LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 


Mr.  Robert  E.  Easton 


•  AMERICAN  CATTLE: 


HISTORY,    BREEDING 


MANAGEMENT. 


BY  LEWIS    F.  ALLEN, 

-^X 

LATE   PRESIDENT    NEW    YORK    STATE   AGRICULTURAL   SOCIETY,     EDITOR    '' AMERICA!* 
BHOBT-HOKN   HERD  BOOK,"   AUTHOR   "  RURAL   ARCHITECTURE,"    ETC.,  ETC. 


NEW  YORK: 
ORANGE  JUDD  AND  COMPANY, 

245  BROADWAY. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868, 
BY  LEWIS  F.  ALLEN, 

[n  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States,  for  ihe  Northen 
District  of  New  York. 


WARREN,  JOHNSON  &  Co. 

Stereotypers,  Printers  and  Binders, 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y. 


ill 


PREFACE. 


THE  object  of  this  work  is  not  only  to  give  a  historical 
account  of  the  Bovine  race,  to  suggest  to  our  farmers,  and 
cattle  breeders,  the  best  methods  of  their  production  and 
management,  but  to  exalt  and  ennoble  its  pursuit  to  the 
dignity  to  which  it  is  entitled,  in  the  various  departments 
of  American  agriculture. 

I  have  contemplated  a  work  of  this  kind  for  many  years 
past  Indeed,  its  plan  was  partly  shadowed  out  near 
twenty  years  ago  ;  but  on  reflection,  I  made  up  my  mind 
that  more  personal  observation  was  required  than  I  then 
possessed,  and  also,  that  further  experience  in  the  use 
of  the  better,  improved  breeds  of  foreign  cattle,  among 
our  farmers  and  cattle  breeders,  was  desirable,  to  give  that 
extended  range  of  information  which  so  important  an 
interest  demanded. 

More  than  forty  years  ago,  it  was  felt  by  those  largely 
engaged  in  stock  growing  for  beef  purposes,  that  our 
"native"  cattle  were  lamentably  deficient  in  their  most 
desirable,  as  well  as  profitable  qualities,  and  instead  of 
attempting  to  improve  and  raise  our  American  native 


stock  to  the  desired  standard  of  excellence,  the  better  way 
was  to  resort  to  such  European  breeds  as,  by  a  long  course 
of  intelligent  culture,  already  -possessed  the  properties 
required.  It  was  so  with  our  dairy,  or  milking  stock. 
As  a  race,  they  were  lamentably  deficient  in  the  uniform- 
ity of  their  milking  qualities,  and  the  yields  they  pro- 
duced. We  needed  better  ones,  and  to  undertake  to  build 
them  up  from  the  miscellaneous  herds,  composed  of  all 
congregated  mixtures,  as  they  are,  without  any  certain 
basis  to  commence  upon,  was  a  hazardous,  and  almost 
interminable  labor,  as  well  as  uncertain  mode  of  proced- 
ure. Hence,  numerous  importations  of  the  choice  breeds 
of  foreign  cattle  have  been  made,  involving  an  outlay  of 
millions  of  dollars  in  the  aggregate.  The  propagation  of 
these  cattle,  the  success  that  has  attended  them,  and  the 
popularity  which  they  have  achieved  among  our  intelli- 
gent farmers,  and  breeders,  has  confirmed  the  wisdom  of 
those  enterprising  men  who  embarked  their  capital  and 
labor  in  their  introduction. 

Further  knowledge  in  relation  to  these  foreign  breeds, 
of  their  breeding,  and  rearing,  together  with  their  benefi- 
cial uses  in  elevating  the  qualities  of  our  old  native  stock, 
through  their  adaptability  in  crossing  their  blood  upon 
them,  has  now,  beyond  a  question,  decided  the  necessity 
of  a  book  on  "American  Cattle."  Therefore,  such  as  it 
is,  this  volume  goes  forth  to  the  public. 


PREFACE.  5 

I  believe  it  is  the  first  work  of  the  kind,  so  general  in 
its  scope  of  observation,  which  has  been  written,  collated, 
or  published  in  our  country.  We  have  been  favored 
with  sundry  publications,  relating  to  cattle  in  the  way 
of  Dairy  Coivs,  and  some  of  the  departments  connected 
with  their  use — able,  useful,  instructive  publications,  too — 
but  not  comprising  so  full  and  general  a  range  of  the  sub- 
ject as  is  here  proposed.  This  work  is  not  intended  to 
interfere  with  them;  each  may  be  essential — necessary, 
indeed — to  convey  all  the  information  which  may  be 
required  on  so  extensive  and  ramified  a  subject 

A  book  which  should  embrace  all  that  is  here  under- 
taken, together  with  the  productive  results  appertaining  to 
neat  cattle,  as  the  Dairy,  and  other  economical  industries, 
could  not  well  be  consolidated  into  a  single,  acceptable 
volume.  It  would  involve  a  more  intimate,  and  wider 
range  of  experience  and  observation,  than  can  well  be 
combined  in  one  individual  effort  So  far  as  suggestion, 
or  instruction,  is  concerned,  I  have  chosen  only  to  take  the 
creature  from  its  conception,  and  carry  it  through  life  to 
its  proper  and  ultimate  destination — the  ox  to  the  yoke, 
the  bullock  to  the  shambles,  the  cow  to  the  pail,  or  the 
propagation  of  her  young — and  there  leave  them.  The 
DAIRY,  and  its  management,  are  referred  to  other,  and 
more  competent  hands. 

This  Preface  ought  not  to  be  concluded  without  saying 
that  I  have  gleaned  somewhat,  much  indeed,  from  the 


PREFACE. 


observations,  writings,  and  publications  of  others,  both 
abroad  and  at  home,  perhaps  more  experienced  than 
mysel£  To  such,  I  feel  largely  indebted,  and  give  my 
acknowledgments.  But  those  observations  have  been  scat- 
tered in  such  fragmentary  and  miscellaneous  ways,  as  to 
be  beyond  the  reach  of  the  inquirer,  without  more  labor 
and  expense  to  combine  them  into  accessible  form  than 
can  well  be  done  by  the  mass,  or  even  a  few  of  those 
seeking  them. 

I  trust  that  here  may  be  found  embodied  all  those  various 
materiel  which  will  prove  acceptable  to  the  wide  spread 
community  interested  in  the  breeding  and  improvement  of 
our  herds,  and  that  they  may  be  benefited  by  my  labors. 
With  this  trust,  the  following  pages  are  submitted. 

LEWIS  F.  ALLEN. 

BUFFALO,  N.  Y.,  18G8. 


CONTENTS. 


INTRODUCTION. 

Number  of  Cattle  in  the  United  States  and  Territories— Value  of  the  same— Value 
of  Beef,  Butter,  Cheese,  and  Labor  of  Oxen 11 

CHAPTER  I. 

The  Climate  and  Soils  of  North  America,  as  adapted  to  the  production  of  Neat 
Cattle 21 

CHAPTER  II. 

Neat  Cattle— Their  History— Misrepresentations  by  Artists— Spoken  of  in  the  Bible- 
la  India— In  Egypt — Among  the  Romans — In  Europe 25 

CHAPTER  III. 

History  of  American  Cattle — Introduction  by  the  Spanish  into  Mexico — By  the  Eng- 
lish into  Virginia— By  the  Dutch  into  New  York— By  the  English  into  other 
Colonies 29 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Quality,  Condition  and  Appearance  of  our  Native  Cattle— Amalgamation  of  Different 
Breeds — Result  of  the  different  mixtures 84 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  Anatomical  and  Economical  Points  of  Cattle — Illustration  of  Points — G»od 
Points— Bad  Points— Texan  Cattle— Comparison  of  Good  and  Poor  Cattle. . .  41 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Improved  Breeds  of  Cattle— What  are  they  ?— Cattle  of  Great  Britain— Their  Pro- 
gress there— Their  Division  into  Breeds— Improvement  in  them— Youatt's  His- 
tory of  them 45 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Middle-horned  Cattle— The  Devons— History— Description— Points— Bull— Cow,  as 
a  Milker— Ox,  as  a  Worker— As  a  Beef  Animal— Their  Introduction  to,  and  Pro- 
gress in  America . .  50 


8  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Herefords— History— Description— Bull— Cow,  as  a  Milker— Ox,  as  a  Worker— 
As  a  Beef  Animal— Their  Introduction  to,  and  Progress  in  America 62 

CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Long-horns— History— Description— Bull— Cow,  as  a  Milker— Ox,  as  a  Worker— 
As  a  Beef  Animal— Their  Introduction  into  America— Their  Extinction  here . .  75 

CHAPTER  X. 

The  Cattle  of  Scotland— The  West  Highlands— Their  History,  and  Present  Condi- 
tion—Value as  Beef  Animals— Little  Valu'e  for  the  Dairy— Their  Fitness  for  the 
Mountain  Ranges  and  Western  Plains  of  America 85 

CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Galloways— Their  History— Description— Manner  of  Breeding  them— Introduc- 
tion to  America— Value  as  Grazing,  and  Beef  Animals 9!) 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Ayrshires — Their  Origin  and  History — Description — Improvement  in  their  Breed- 
ing, and  Quality  for  the  Dairy — Milk  Production — In  America — As  a  Beef  Ani- 
mal   Ill 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

The  Alderney,  Jersey,  Guernsey,  or  Channel  Island  Cattle — Their  Origin  and  His- 
tory— Description — Introduction  to  America — Value  as  Milkers — As  a  Worker, 
and  Beef  Animal 128 

CHAPTER  X3V. 

The  Short-horns— Their  Pretended  History  by  Berry,  in  Youatt— Their  True  His- 
tory—Charles and  Robert  Colling— Short-horns  in  America— Characteristics- 
Description  of  them— As  a  Dairy  Cow— As  a  Working  Ox— As  a  Beef  Animal— 
Their  Proper  Homes— Their  Predominance  in  the  Herds  of  Britain 134 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  Holstein,  or  Dutch  Cattle— Their  History— Description  of  them— Introduction  to 
America— Mr.  Chenery's  Importations— Their  uses— For  the  Dairy— As  a  Worker 
—As  a  Beef  Animal 166 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

The  Spanish,  or  Texan  Cattle— Origin  and  History— Introduction  into  Mexico— Mi- 
gration to  Texas  and  California— Description— Beef  Qualities— Diseases  attend- 
ing them 174 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

What  is  the  Best  Breed  of  Cattle  ?— What  they  are  Wanted  for-Each  may  be  the 
Best  Breed  for  Certain  Local! ties....  ...  181 


CONTENTS.  9 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

What  Constitutes  a  Good  Animal?— Coarse  Cattle— Fine  Cattle— Beauty— Perfec- 
tion   187 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

On  Breeding— General  Principles— Rules  for  Good  Breeding— In-and-in  Breeding- 
Examples— Establishing  the  Variety  as  an  Improved  Breed— Contending  Opin- 
ions   192 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Treatment  of  Breeding  Cows— Strange  Influences— Mistaken  Theories— Doctor 
Harvey's  Essay— Occasional  Barrenness— Professor  Tanner's  Essay— Mr.  E.  W. 
Stewart's  Remarks— Feeding  in  Advanced  Stages  of  Pregnancy— Duration  of 
Pregnancy 219 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Breeding  Grade  Cattle  for  Grazing — Breeding  Dairy  Cows — Do  not  Change  the 
Breed— Age  at  which  Heifers  should  be  Bred— Rearing  and  Treatment  of 
Bulls 254 

CHAPTER  XXH. 

Rearing  Stock  Calves — Their  Treatment — Calves  for  Veal — Calves  Running  with  the 
Cows — Handling  Young  Animals — Shelter — Rearing  Thorough  bred  Heifers — In- 
fluencing the  Sex  of  Calves 207 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Beef  Cattle— Differences  in  Breed— Regularity  of  Condition— Proper  Ages  for  Fat- 
tening—Modes of  Feeding-Shape  of  Fat  Cattle— Cattle  in  the  London  Mark- 
ets, by  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen— Transportation  of  Stock  to  Market— Railway  Cattle 
Yards 27t> 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Working  Oxen— Rearing,  Matching,  and  Training— Devons  and  Herefords  the  Best 


Breeds  for  Labor. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Cattle  Food— The  Grasses— Full  Feed  and  Water— Shade  in  Pastures— Change  of 
Pastures— Winter  Forage,  and  Care  of  Neat  Stock— What  Winter  Feeding  and 
Cure  of  Stock  Should  be— Barns  and  Sheds 297 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Summer  Food  for  Dairy  Cows— Pastures— Soiling— Proper  Soiling  Crops— The  Best 
Kind  of  Corn  for  Soiling— Mr.  E.  W.  Stewart's  Experiments— Condition  of  Ani- 
mals Soiled— Effect  of  Soiling  upon  the  Product  of  Milk— Saving  in  Fences- 
Saving  in  Manure— Saving  in  Land— Method  of  Feeding— Arrangement  of  Ani- 
mals—Another Experiment— Fall  Feeding— Winter  Feeding 309 


10  COXTKXTS. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Sale  Milk  Dairies— Value  of  Milk  Sold  in  the  City  of  New  York— In  the  United 
States-Swill  Milk— Good  Milk— Cooking  Food— Why  Fodder  Should  be  Cut- 
Mixing  Food— Straw  Cutters— Values  of  Different  Food— Steam  Apparatus— Re- 
sults of  Cooking — Experiments,  &c 333 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Milk  Cows— Their  Selection— Mr.  Magne's  Essay  on  their  General  Character— Marks 
—Shape— Appearance— Hygienic  Conditions— Selections  for  Breeding— Mr.  Hax- 
ton's  Modes  of  Selection— Guenou's  Theory,  &c 3C5 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  Common  Mode  of  Obtaining  Dairy  Cows— Milking,  &c 402 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Value  Invested  In  Cows— Low  Average  in  Production— Dairy  Soils-J)airy  Factories 
—Dairy  Women— Love  of  Fine  Cattle 408 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Miscellaneous — Pregnancy,  and  What  Follows — A3  Maternity  Approaches — Marks 
Indicating  Ages  of  Cattle — Diseases,  Treatment,  and  Cures — Habits  and  Tricks 
of  Cattle— Kicking  Cows— Kicking  Oxen— Breachy  Animals— Cows  Sucking 
Themselves — Hooking  and  Quarreling 415 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Diseases  Proper — Water  Treatment — Garget — Puerperal,  or  Milk  Fever — Wounds, 
Bruises,  Sprains,  &c. — Lowson's  Treatise  on  Diseases  and  Cures 433 

CHAPTER  XXXIII 

Castration— Spaying  Heifers  and  Cows— Free-Martins-Drinking  Water— Bloody, 
and  Curdly  Milk— Handling— Proof— Large  or  Overgrown  Cattle 516 


INTRODUCTION. 


THAT  the  value  of  American  Neat  Cattle,  as  a  branch  of  our 
agricultural  interests,  may  be  fairly  understood  and  appreciated, 
some  statistical  facts  and  estimates  are  submitted. 

The  census  reports  for  the  years  1850  and  1860  give  the 
following  returns  for  the  United  States  and  Territories : 

1850.  1860. 

Milk  Cows,         .         .         .     6,385,094       8,728,862 
Working  Oxen,       .         .         1,700,694       2,240,075 
Other  Cattle,      .         .         .   10,293,069     14,671,400 
Thus  showing  an  increase  in  ten  years,  of  about  one-third,  or 
33£  per  cent,  in  numbers ;  and,  although,  during  the  past  eight 
years,  since  the  year  1859,  in  which  the  last  census  was  taken, 
four  of  these  years,  1861  to  1865,  have  been,  during  the  war  in 
the  Southern  States,  a  period  of   extraordinary  consumption, 
waste,  and  depreciation  in  the  numbers  of  their  cattle  of  all 
descriptions,  still,  the  aggregate  of  the  entire  neat  stock  of  the 
country  must  have  considerably  increased. 

The  number  of  cattle  in  thirteen  of  those  States,  more  or  less 
disturbed  and  overrun  by  the  armies  at  various  times — leaving 
out  Maryland  —  in  the  census  reports  of  1860,  was  as  follows: 

Milk  Cows, 3,305,953 

Working  Oxen,           ....          1,732,232 
Other  Cattle, 7,782,635 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

Showing  that  nearly  40  per  cent,  of  the  milk  cows;  nearly  80 
per  cent,  of  the  working  oxen,  and  upwards  of  50  per  cent,  of 
"  other  cattle "  were  owned  in  the  Southern  States,  including 
Missouri.  Of  "other  cattle,"  however,  2,733,267,  or  nearly 
one-third,  belonged  to  the  single  State  of  Texas,  where  enor- 
mous numbers  of  semi-wild  animals  rove  over  the  wide  plains 
and  savannas  of  its  extensive  territory,  but  of  far  less  value  per 
head,  (probably  not  exceeding  one-half,)  than  those  under  the 
same  denomination  in  the  other  Southern  States.  So,  also,  of 
their  milk  cows,  which  were  598,086  in -number,  or  about 
eighteen  per  cent,  of  the  whole ;  and  as  of  these  cows  probably 
three-fourths  of  them  are  as  untamed  as  their  "other  cattle," 
and  devoted  only  to  the  production  and  rearing  of  young  stock, 
they  cannot  be  denominated  as  "milk  cows"  proper,  as  they 
are  in  most  other  of  those  States ;  and  are,  therefore,  of  about 
the  same  proportionate  value  as  "other  cattle,"  with  which 
they  range.  The  working  oxen  of  Texas,  (172,243  in  number,) 
devoted  to  labor  purposes,  we  let  stand. 

Excluding,  therefore,  the  Texan  herds — working  oxen  also — 
as  less  valuable  than  those  of  the  other  States  at  large,  we  class 
them  separately;  .and  calling  the  aggregate  stock  of  all  the 
Southern  States  now  what  they  were  at  the  last  census — the 
waste  of  the  war  taken  from  what  would  be  the  natural  increase 
in  times  of  uninterrupted  agricultural  advancement — we  may 
now  put  the  numbers  of  the  whole  South  as  they  were  in  1860, 
deducting  Texas,  viz.: 

Milk  Cows, 2,707,867 

Working  Oxen, 1,560,989 

Other  Cattle, 4,949,368 

The  natural  increase  of  the  cattle  of  the  Northern  States, 
including  Maryland  and  Delaware,  not  much  disturbed  by  the 
war,  counting  it  as  from  the  increase  from  the  years  1850  and 


INTRODUCTION'.  13 

1860,  at  about  33  per  cent,  every  ten  years,  or  23  per  cent,  for 
seven  years,  would  be  thus  : 

Milk  Cows,   in   1860,  .         .         .         5,422,909 

Working  Oxen,  in  1860,         .         .         .        507,843 

Other  Cattle,  in  1860,         .         .         .         6,888.765 

To  these,  add,  say  twenty  per  cent,  for  the  six  to  seven  years' 

increase,  and  the  numbers  would  now  be,  in  the  Northern  States 

and  Territories : 

Milk  Cows, 6,507,491 

Working  Oxen,      ..."  .         609,411 

Other  Cattle, 8,266,518 

Thus,  the  present  number  of  cattle  in  all  the  States  and  Terri- 
tories, excluding  Texas,  stands,  in  1867  : 

Milk  Cows, 9,215,358 

Working  Oxen, 2,170,400 

Other  Cattle, 13,215,886 

The  value  of  these  cattle  may  be  safely  put  as  follows : 

Cows,  at  $40  each,  .  .  .  $368,614,320 
Working  Oxen,  at  $50  each,  .  .  108,520,000 
Other  Cattle,  at  $30  each,  .  .  .  396,476,580 


$873,610,900 

Add  the  Texan  cattle : 

Milk  Cows, 598,086 

Working  Oxen,  .  ...  172,243 
Other  Cattle, 2,773,267 

The  value  of  which  may  be : 

Milk  Cows,  at  $25  each,  .  .  $31,952,150 
Working  Oxen,  at  $40  each,  .  .  6,889,720 
Other  Cattle,  at  $15  each,  .  .  41,599,005 


$80,440,875 
Here  we  have  an   aggregate  value  of   $954,051,775 — near  a 


14  INTRODUCTION'. 

thousand  millions  of  dollars — in  28,145,240  head  of  neat  cattle 
of  all  descriptions. 

That  the  value  of  this  stock  is  not  over-estimated,  we  may 
state  that  the  price  of  good  dairy  cows  now  ranges  in  the 
Northern  States  at  $50  to  $100  each,  and  working  oxen  at  $150 
to  $250  a  pair,  according  to  age  and  quality.  "Other  cattle," 
which  range  from  the  last  spring  calves  to  heifers  of  three  years, 
and  steers  of  four  years  of  age,  the  youngest  of  which  are  worth 
$5,  and  the  oldest  $50,  in  their  pastures,  are  not  over-valued. 
In  our  estimates  of  value,  are  not  counted  the  thousands  of 
"  improved  "  blood  cattle,  of  the  different  breeds,  now  becoming 
widely  diffused  over  extensive  portions  of  the  country,  and 
would,  if  properly  accredited,  add  some  millions  to  the  aggregate 
value  of  our  cattle  herds.  It  may  be  said  that  our  currency  is 
inflated  to  thirty  per  cent,  above  gold  prices,  and  a  great  depre- 
ciation will  follow  when  we  come  to  a  specie  basis.  No  matter. 
We  take  things  as  they  are.  "We  may  safely  estimate  our 
working  capital  in  neat  stock,  for  the  next  five  years,  at  a 
THOUSAND  MILLION  of  dollars,  and  consider  whether  that 
amount  invested  by  a  nation  containing  near  forty  millions  of 
people  in  the  aggregate,  is  not  worth  improving  and  caring  for — 
so  much  so,  at  least,  as  to  study,  and  find  out  ways  for  their 
improvement  in  breeding,  rearing,  and  feeding — to  raise  them  to 
the  perfection  of  which  they  are  capable,  by  more  care  than  we 
have  been  accustomed  to  bestow  upon  them,  without  much 
increased  cost  in  their  food.  This  we  believe  to  be  both  possible 
and  practicable,  and  if  these  pages  shall  only  in  an  imperfect 
degree,  accomplish  the  object,  our  purposes  will  be  answered. 

Our  Agriculture,  in  all  its  branches,  is  but  in  the  gristle  of 
improvement.  The  scarcity  and  high  price  of  labor  has  com- 
pelled us  to  invent  and  use  labor-saving  implements  and 
machinery  in  many  departments.  We  drain,  and  ditch,  and 
bring  our  waste  lands  under  cultivation,  and  cultivate  those  we 


INTRODUCTION'.  15 

have  long  been  accustomed  to  work,  better  than  of  old.  We 
plow,  and  we  sow,  and  we  mow,  and  we  reap,  and  harvest,  and 
secure  our  crops  somewhat  better  than  our  fathers  did.  We 
build  better  barns  and  shelters  for  our  crops  and  farm  stock  than 
they  could  afford.  We  do  many  things  better  than  they  were 
accustomed  to  do,  in  the  less  enlightened  days  of  their  experi 
ence.  We  have  numerous  agricultural  papers,  edited  by 
intelligent  men  and  teachers.  We  interchange  our  ideas  through 
them.  We  have  our  annual  Agricultural  Society  meetings  and 
exhibitions,  in  a  majority  of  our  States,  and  in  multitudes  of 
counties,  and  towns,  and  neighborhoods  of  the  different  States. 
Our  stock,  in  the  main,  is  better  than  the  farm  stock  of  fifty 
years  ago ;  but  it  can  be  made  better  by  thirty  per  cent,  than  it 
is,  by  a  trifle  more  knowledge  and  experience  than  we  now 
possess,  and  a  better  practice  in  taking  care  of  them.  We  owe 
an  immense  debt  of  gratitude  to  those  generous  and  enterprising 
men  who,  of  late  years,  at  so  much  cost  and  pains,  have 
expended  their  time  and  money  in  introducing  improved  breeds 
from  abroad,  and  urging  attention  to  them  upon  those  who,  but 
for  their  efforts,  would  still  be  groping  in  the  dullness  of  past 
times,  and  delving  through  all  their  abortive  attempts  to  "get 
on,"  and  strive,  in  their  own  darkness,  at  success. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  there  exists  no  accurate  data  on 
which  to  compute  the  annual  slaughter  and  consumption  of  beef 
and  veal  in  our  country.  No  returns  of  this  kind  have  been 
made  in  the  census  department  of  the  government,  and  it  is 
impossible  to  fairly  conjecture  its  extent.  New  York  City,  and 
its  immediate  vicinity  absorbs  about  6,000  head  of  beeves  weekly, 
making  312,000  per  annum,  besides  multitudes  of  veal  calves, 
and  large  numbers  of  milk  cows,  store  cattle  and  working  oxen, 
which  aro  bought  for  use  in  the  surrounding  country,  and  of 
which  we  seldom  hear  anything  again.  The  Philadelphia  and 
Baltimore  markets  probably  take  as  many  more,  and  the  New 


1G 


INTRODUCTION. 


England  cities  along  the  sea-board,  an  equal  number,  making  a 
round  million  in  the  aggregate ;  and  the  Southern  sea  board 
cities  200,000  more,  including  Washington,  Mobile  and  New 
Orleans,  making  1,200,000.  It  is  not  too  much  to  compute  the 
consumption  of  the  inland  cities,  towns  and  villages,  altogether, 
at  three  times  the  number — 3,600,000 — swelling  the  aggregate 
to  the  sum  of,  say  5,000,000  a  year.*  The  value  of  these 
may  safely  be  put  at  $60  each,  on  the  owner's  farm,  thus  raising 
the  entire  sum  to  $300,000,000,  and  perhaps  higher,  besides 
the  heavy  amounts  which  are  slaughtered  and  packed  in  the 
interior  for  exportation  abroad,  amounting  to  some  millions  of 
dollars  more.  To  these  items,  add  the  value  of  butter  and 
cheese  produced  from  cows,  and  the  labor  of  working  oxen, 
and  the  cattle  interest  of  the  country  swells  to  an  enormous 
aggregate. 

The  quantity  of  butter  produced,  in  the  census  returns  of  the 
year  1860,  was  460,509,854  pounds,  being  an  increase  of  46 
per  cent,  over  the  returns  of  1850.  The  quantity  of  cheese,  in 


*To  be  more  exact,  so  far  as  the  consumption  of  New  York  City  and  its  immediate 
vicinity  is  concerned,  we  give  below  a  condensed  table  taken  from  the  New  York 
Tribune  Cattle  Market  reports  for  the  year  1866,  showing  the  annual  receipts  of  all 
varieties  of  stock  for  the  past  thirteen  years,  and  the  prices  at  which  beef  has  ruled 
for  the  year  1866. 

"The  weight,  at  which  the  cattle  averaged,  are  only  for  the  four  quarters  of  the 
carcass,  which  includes,  in  value,  the  hide  and  tallow,  as  they  are  not  paid  for  out- 
side of  the  meat. 


RECEIPTS  OF  STOCK  FOR  A   SERIES  OF  YEARS. 


1854. 
1855. 
1856. 

1S57. 


Beeves. 
.169.864 
.155,564 
.187,057 
.  ltJ2.243 
.19li874 
.205.272 


222,835 


1864.. 
1865.. 

1866.. 


.  264,091 
.267,609 

.27:!.27 1 


Cows. 
13.131 
12,110 

12,857 
12,840 
10,128 
9,492 
7,144 
5,749 
5,378 
6.470 
7,603- 
6,161 


Calves. 
68,534 
47.069 
4.3,081 
34,218 
37.67.-i 


30,465 
35.70!) 
7-1.621 
77,991 
62,114 


Sheep. 
555,479 
588,741 
452,739 
414,036 
447,445 
404.894 
51.S.750 
512.336 
494.342 
519.316 
7S2.462 


Swine. 
252326 
318,107 
345,911 


551,479 


1,030,621 


559,421 

1.148,209 

1,101.617 

660,270 

573,197 

666,392 


1,152,491 
1,051,645 
942,321 
1,238,601 
1,068,092 
1,11'M81 
1,333.229 
1,907.SSO 
1,927,203 
1.7>9..",17 
1,761,335 
2,062,894 


INTRODUCTION.  17 

the  returns  of  1860,  was  105,875,135  pounds,  being  340,000 
pounds  more  than  in  1850.  These  are  dairy  farm  products,  to 
say  nothing  of  the  large  amount  of  butter  and  cheese  made  for 
immediate  consumption  in  private  families,  of  which  no  accurate 
returns  were  made.  Then,  again,  is  the  great  consumption  of 
milk  in  the  cities,  market  towns,  and  villages  of  the  United 
States,  for  which  no  returns  can  be  found,  and  even  an  approxi- 
mation in  quantity  cannot  be  accurately  made. 

The  value  of  the  butter  and  cheese,  at  present  prices,  may  be 
estimated  at  something  like  this  : 

Butter,  460,500,000  pounds,  at  25  cents, 

home  value $115,112,500 

Cheese,  105,875,000  pounds,  at  15  cents, 

home  value,    .  ...        15,881,250 


$130,993,750 

Making,  say,  $131,000,000  for  these  two  articles.  Of  cheese, 
about  15,000,000  pounds  were  then  exported  abroad,  and  the 
amount  has  since  largely  increased  —  all,  chiefly  the  produce  of 
the  Northern  States.  The  value  of  hides  and  tallow  may  be 


MONTHLY  I 

Beeves. 
January  26,337 
February  19,204 
March                              18.887 

SECEIT] 

Cows. 
505 
306 
532 
425 
471 
316 
533 
335 
445 
482 
290 
245 

a  OF  1866. 
Calves.      Sheep. 
2,259          88,819 
1,411          66,249 
2,411          60,922 
7,202          56,772 
9,281          73,085 
6,829         68,559 
7,510         83,693 
4,753         92.669 
5,385          94,536 
7.762        135,301 
4.405        108,744 
2,906       101,272 

Swine.  All  kinds 
72,417        190,337 
36,893        124,063 
25.609        108,361 
34.439        120.947 
62,126        173,252 
59,397        15S.673 
48,443        166,774 
42,489        164.937 
48,564        175.718 
91,865        268.346 
72,003        211.356 
72,147        200,136 

April  
May  
June  
July  
August  
September  

.  .  .22,112 
...28,289 
...23,572 
...26,602 
...24,691 
...26.788 
...32,930 
...25,914 
...23,556 

October  
November  
December  

"If  we  value  all  the  beeves  at  the  estimated  average  price  of  15)£c.  per  Ib.  for  the  net 
weight  of  meat,  and  rate  them  at  only  7&  cwt.  each,  it  will  make  the  enormous 
sum  of  thirty-three  millions  two  hundred  and  twenty-three  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  twenty-three  dollars  and  twelve  cents  ($33,223,723.12.)" 

At  the  prices  above  stated,  the  beef  animals  would  average  $116.50  each,  from 
which  the  expenses  of  taking  them  from  the  farm  to  market  must  be  deducted, 
averaging  $15  to  $35  each,  according  to  the  distance  which  they  are  transported. 


18  INTRODUCTION. 

included  in  that  of  slaughtered  cattle,  as  above  stated.  The 
prices  of  butter  and  cheese  are  placed  low,  as  their  wholesale 
home  prices  have  ruled  within  the  year  1866  at  an  average  of 
full  30  cents  for  butter,  and  17  cents  for  cheese. 

Thus,  the  annual  product  of  our  neat  stock  may  be  estimated, 
within  bounds,  at : 

Beef,  say,      .         .         .         .         .         $300,000,000 
Butter  and  Cheese,  say,     .         .         .       131,000,000 
Milk  sold,  say,        ....  13,000,000 
Milk  produced  and  consumed  in  house- 
holds, say, 10,000,000 


$454,000.000 

To  this  sum  add  the  value  of  the  labor  of  2,240,000  working 
oxen  at  25  cents  each  per  day  for  250  days  in  the  year,  besides 
the  cost  of  keeping,  making  $140,000,000,  and  we  have  a  sum 
total  of  $594,000,000  per  annum;  and  adding  the  veals 
slaughtered  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  we  safely  put  down  an 
aggregate  of  six  HUNDRED  MILLIONS  OF  DOLLARS  a  year  pro- 
duced from  the  neat  cattle  of  the  United  States  and  their 
Territories. 

An  interest  so  enormous  in  its  investment  and  production — a 
large  per  centage  of  which,  we  admit,  is  chargeable  to  the  food 
it  consumes  and  the  labor  expended  upon  it — merits  the  best 
consideration  of  every  one  concerned,  and  a  close  study  of  how 
much  profit  is  to  be  derived  from  it.  The  amount  of  profit  is 
comparative,  depending  on  the  quality  of  the  animals,  the  care 
expended  upon  them,  and  their  consumption  of  food.  That  this 
profit  is  far  less  than  it  should  be  in  a  country  like  this,  is 
manifest  in  the  wretched  classes  of  cattle  that  are  kept 
throughout  a  large  portion  of  our  territory,  the  lax  manner  in 
which  they  are  cared,  or  rather  uncared,  for,  and  the  stinted 
quantities  of  food  they  are  allowed.  Thus,  there  is  evident 


INTRODUCTION.  19 

necessity  for  increased  attention  to  the  selection  of  breeds,  as 
well  as  to  their  breeding,  rearing,  feeding,  and  the  general  atten- 
tion bestowed  upon  them,  and  which  it  will  be  the  object  of 
these  pages  to  suggest  and  enforce. 

The  Americans,  perhaps,  of  all  people  so  intelligent  and 
active  in  their  agricultural  pursuits,  have  been  the  least  enter- 
prising in  improving  their  breeds  of  cattle,  or  in  best  cultivating 
those  which  they  have.  It  may  be  owing  somewhat  to  the 
wide  resources  in  land  which  we  possess,  that  such  facts  exist,  but 
more  to  the  want  of  study  in  the  close  economy  which  ought  to 
dictate  our  policy.  At  all  events,  we  are  far  behind  what  we 
should  be,  with  the  advantages  at  hand.  The  United  States 
ought  to  possess,  and  cultivate  extensively  the  best  races  of 
cattle  known.  Instead  of  that,  we  possess  but  a  comparative 
few  of  the  improved  breeds,  which  are  making  their  progress 
among  our  farmers  either  by  the  extension  of  their  blood  in  its 
purity,  or  by  infusion  into  our  common  stocks,  with  far  less 
celerity  than  they  ought.  Yet,  we  are  progressing. 

Before  closing  this  introduction,  a  word  may  be  said  of  the 
material  from  which  the  text  of  our  further  pages  is  gathered. 
This  work  is  not  claimed  as  altogether  original  in  its  matter, 
although  it  is  in  language  and  manner.  We  have  drawn  what 
was  necessary  from  European  authorities  of  various  kinds,  both 
printed,  and  verbal.  We  have  also  made  use  of  such  domestic 
information  of  like  character  as  we  considered  sound  authority. 
Added  to  these,  thirty  odd  years  of  personal  experience,  and 
close  observation  in  the  best  breeds  of  European,  as  well  as 
native  American  cattle,  and  of  their  breeding  and  previous 
treatment,  has  led  us  to  discriminate  between  the  erroneous  and 
true,  and  as  much  as  lies  in  our  power,  to  exclude  the  one,  and 
adopt  the  other.  Could  all  the  discussions,  essays,  histories, 
and  accounts  which  have  appeared  in  our  published  books  and 
agricultural  periodicals,  be  collected  and  condensed  into  portable 


20  INTRODUCTION. 

form,  our  own  present  labors  would  be  unnecessary ;  but  lying, 
as  these  sources  of  information  do,  in  fugitive  volumes,  or 
diversely  scattered  papers,  they  are  both  inaccessible  and  unavail- 
able to  the  mass  of  inquirers. 

Although  having  preferences  for  some  breeds  of  cattle  for 
general  use,  over  others,  it  is  hoped  that  we  can  fully  appreciate 
and  do  justice  to  them  all,  in  their  own  proper  merits,  and  for 
the  particular  localities  to  which  they  are  best  adapted,  and  give 
to  the  public  a  truthful  exposition  of  the  subjects  of  which  we 
write,  in  all  its  bearings  and  economies. 


AMERICAN  CATTLE. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    CLIMATES  AND    SOILS  OF  NORTH   AMERICA,  AS  ADAPTED   TO 
THE  PRODUCTION  OF  NEAT  CATTLE. 

IN  the  diversities  of  climate,  from  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  on 
the  north,  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  on  the  south,  and  from  the 
Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east,  to  the  Pacific  on  the  west,  with 
the  various  elevations  and  depressions  of  the  surfaces  of  country 
between,  we  have  a  range  of  temperature,  the  most  favorable  to 
the  production  and  sustenance  of  neat  cattle  in  all  their  best  known 
varieties,  probably,  on  the  globe.  Eminently  healthful  to  those 
foreign  breeds  inhabiting  like  climates  at  home,  they  have  been 
as  successfully  bred  here,  where  introduced,  with  less  tendencies 
to  those  diseases  which  vex  them  there,  while  our  soils  produce 
herbage  attractive  to  their  appetites,  and  favorable  to  the  best 
development  of  their  natures. 

From. the  Mediterranean  on  the  south,  to  the  Baltic  on  the 
north ;  from  the  mountains  of  the  upper  Rhine  in  Germany  and 
Switzerland,  to  the  western  coasts  of  Ireland,  Normandy  and 
Spain,  the  cattle  of  Europe  have  crossed  the  ocean,  to  find  their 
homes  in  the  congenial  climates  and  soils  of  America,  with  the 
emigrating  people,  who  reared  them  in  their  native  lands. 


22  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

In  their  new  homes  they  have  bred  and  multiplied,  with  equal, 
if  not  better  success  than  in  the  lands  they  left,  although  subjected 
to  the  vicissitudes  of  change  of  locality,  less  care,  and  in  many 
instances,  inadequate  supplies  of  forage.  The  early  cattle  of 
America  had  to  contend  with  hardships,  like  their  owners ;  but 
surmounting  them  all,  they  multiplied  and  thrived  apace,  soon 
supplying  all  the  wants  of  the  increasing  population,  and  yielding 
provisions  for  a  growing  export  trade  abroad.  In  the  southern 
countries,  they  ranged  on  the  fertile  plains  and  sought  their  food 
throughout  the  year,  ignorant  of  enclosure,  and  needless  of  shel- 
ter, while  further  north,  as  the  climate  became  less  favorable,  and 
more  care  for  their  welfare  was  demanded,  they  found  equally 
congenial  homes  amid  the  choicer  grasses,  and  under  the  more 
comfortable  shelter  provided  by  their  possessors. 

The  virgin  soils  of  a  new  country  are  undoubtedly  more  free 
from  diseasing  influences,  than  regions  tilled  or  pastured  for  many 
centuries.  Yet,  if  annoyed  by  insects,  or  subjected  to  miasmatic 
influences  prejudicial  to  their  welfare,  in  the  new  settlements,  these 
disappear  with  progressive  cultivation,  and  in  the  two  hundred 
and  fifty  years  of  their  existence  on  American  soil,  taken  alto- 
gether, our  country  has  proved  the  healthiest  cattle  region  in 
the  world.  Neither  "  cattle  plagues  "  or  other  deadly  infectious 
diseases  have  devastated  our  herds,  unless  in  an  occasional  in- 
stance by  importation  from  abroad ;  and  although  local  disorders 
to  some  extent  have  sometimes  appeared,  a  timely  care  and  pre- 
caution have  prevented  their  spread,  and  stopped  their  ravages. 

The  various  soils  and  elevations  of  America,  furnish  in  abund- 
ance their  choicest  food,  and  the  only  discretion  needed  for  their 
profitable  culture  is  to  select  those  varieties  of  cattle  best  appli- 
cable to  the  positions  they  are  to  occupy,  and  the  uses  demanded 
of  them.  Happily,  these  varieties  are  either  already  at  hand,  or 
within  available  reach,  and  it  only  needs  examination  to  deter- 
mine the  kinds  required,  and  sufficient  means  to  avail  ourselves  of 


CLIMATES    AND    SOILS.  23 

their  possession.  "Wild  natural  grasses,  of  succulent  growth  and 
nutritious  quality,  abound  in  our  prairies  and  open  plains,  while 
our  wooded  regions,  reduced  to  cultivation,  readily  yield  the  do- 
mestic grasses  in  the  richest  abundance.  In  our  cotton,  rice,  and 
sugar  growing  latitudes,  where  little  attention  has  been  given  to 
the  growth  of  cattle,  or  providing  the  grasses  for  them,  they  do 
not  thrive  so  well,  but  in  the  hill  and  mountain  districts  of  those 
States,  with  a  proper  regard  to  their  provision,  they  nourish  and 
prove  a  profitable  branch  of  husbandry.  As  yet,  so  intent  have 
been  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  to  seize  upon  the 
most  available  portions  of  the  soil  for  quick  returns  for  their  capi- 
tal and  labor,  that  the  more  elevated  regions  within  them  have 
been  neglected,  until  the  idea  has  more  or  less  prevailed,  that  even 
for  neat  cattle  they  were  unprofitable.  But  that  delusion  is  fast 
wearing  away.  Their  climates  are  eminently  healthful,  their 
soils,  though  broken,  are  good,  their  valleys  are  rich,  their  springs 
and  streams  pure  and  abundant,  and  it  only  needs  an  increase  of 
their  population,  and  the  application  of  vigorous  and  intelligent 
labor  to  convert  those  salubrious  waste  districts  into  the  finest  of 
pastures  and  meadows,  and  speckle  them  with  herds.  So, 
extending  over  all  the  ranges  and  spurs  of  the  Alleganies,  from 
the  mild  temperatures  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  through  the 
Carolinas  and  Tennessee,  the  higher  degrees  of  Kentucky,  the 
two  Virginias,  and  Pennsylvania,  those  mountain  regions  may 
become  the  great  pastural  country  of  the  Atlantic  States.  So, 
also,  with  the  slopes  and  valleys  of  the  Kocky  Mountains  and 
Sierra  Nevadas  of  the  far  West.  As  in  the  Highland  districts  of 
Scotland,  and  their  contiguous  islands,  and  the  neighboring  Conti- 
nent, but  on  an  immensely  larger  scale,  among  all  these  Ameri- 
can mountains,  and  plains,  the  lighter  and  more  active  races  of 
cattle  may  breed  and  range  in  multitudinous  numbers,  to  be 
driven  and  fed  for  market  on  the  lower  plains  and  cultivated 
farms  of  the  more  populous  grain  growing  States. 


24  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

As  a  country,  we  are  in  the  merest  infancy  in  cattle  growing. 
We  have  no  adequate  infusion  of  the  best  breeds,  in  their 
variety,  with  which  to  populate  these  unreclaimed  lands,  if  we 
had  them  reduced  to  a  fitness  for  occupation.  These  varieties, 
or  breeds,  have  existed  for  centuries  in  Europe,  and  are  now  bred 
to  such  perfection  in  their  good  qualities,  as  the  cattle  of  no 
other  portion  of  the  world  have  attained. 

The  domestic  animals  of  all  countries,  partake  more  or  less  of 
a  character  given  to  them  as  the  result  of  the  pursuits  of  the 
people  who  inhabit  them;  and  let  their  original  race  or  con- 
dition be  what  they  may,  they  gradually  assimulate  to  the 
treatment  and  uses  to  which  they  are  subjected.  The  finest 
greyhound,  pointer,  or  spaniel  dog,  in  the  hands  of  an  uncivil- 
ized American  Indian,  in  the  course  of  generations  will  become 
the  sneaking,  savage  cur  that  follows  at  the  heels  of  his  vagrant 
master,  so  that  his  once  aristocratic  lineage  can  hardly  be 
detected.  So,  the  neat  cattle,  of  whatever  original  or  cultivated 
race,  no  matter  if  the  pure  blood  of  centuries  has  coursed 
uncontaminated  through  their  veins,  may  become  altogether 
estranged  in  appearance,  by  abuse,  or  the  hardships  of  long  and 
neglected  endurance.  Being  thus  fortunate,  in  possessing  a 
country,  fitted  in  its  various  climates,  soils,  and  altitudes  for  the 
best  developement  of  which  the  several  races  of  cattle  are  capa- 
ble, we  have  only  to  direct  our  attention  to  that  extent  of  culti- 
vation which  is  necessary  to  attain  the  most  profitable  results. 

To  the  fitness  of  the  various  known  breeds,  or  races  of  cattle, 
to  the  different  soils,  climates,  and  localities  of  our  wide  country, 
we  shall  address  our  remarks  as  we  proceed. 


CHAPTER  II. 

NEAT    CATTLE THEIR    HISTORY. 

THE  geiius  JBos,  as  a  domesticated  animal,  Las  been  the  use- 
ful and  cherished  companion  of  man  from  the  earliest  date 
of  history,  either  sacred  or  profane.  That  they  were  highly 
valued  in  days  most  ancient,  we  may  know,  from  their  being 
objects  of  labor,  sacrifice,  and  worship,  by  different  nations  and 
people.  They  were  esteemed  articles  of  wealth,  and  sources  of 
prosperity,  and  were  probably  cared  for  and  cultivated  with 
equal  solicitude  as  any  other  domestic  animal  attached  to 
husbandry,  or  of  use  as  food.  "What  was  their  normal  condition 
as  to  race  or  breed,  as  we  understand  races  and  breeds,  little  or 
nothing  is  known,  nor  is  it  necessary  that  we  do  know.  That 
they  were  then,  in  their  chief  essentials,  as  now,  we  have  no 
reason  to  doubt;  and  that  they  may  have  been  improved,  or 
that  they  deteriorated  in  condition  as  civilization  progressed,  or 
waned,  with  the  people  who  held  them  in  subjection,  we  have 
little  reason  to  question.  The  -hieroglyphics  of  Egypt,  most 
ancient  in  date,  rude  as  were  all  their  representations  of  man, 
things,  and  animals,  give  us  no  accurate  likeness  of  what  they 
might  have  been  among  that  ingenious  and  wonderful  people, 
and  they  were  probably  as  highly  cultivated  among  them  as  any 
where  else  in  cotemporary  times.  The  earliest  representations 
or  pictures  we  have,  give  them  rugged  forms,  enormous  length  of 
upright,  or  spreading  horns,  and  gaunt  appearance.  The 
climates  of  the  East  permitted  them  to  live  throughout  the  year 
in  the  open  air,  and  we  may  well  suppose  that  nature  supplied 
2 


26  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

them  with  the  rough,  long  hair  necessary  for  their  protection, 
so  usually  represented  in  their  portraits  by  the  artists  of  more 
civilized  nations. 

In  the  modern  world,  among  the  more  highly  cultivated 
classes  of  society,  in  polite  literature  it  has  been  considered 
vulgar  to  talk  of  cattle,  or  to  illustrate  them  other  than  as 
appendages  to  scenery,  landscape,  and  rural  representations 
among  a  rude  and  uncultivated  people.  So,  too,  with  artists. 
The  latter  have  composed  cattle  scenes,  and  introduced  them  as 
accessory  to  landscapes  in  their  paintings,  and  so  grossly  have 
they  misrepresented  their  forms  for  "artistic  effect,"  as  to  cari- 
cature and  give  the  ugliest  appearances  to  them.  Claude  Lor- 
raine, Salvator  Rosa,  Poussin,  and  others  of  the  most  celebrated 
schools  of  landscape  painting  of  olden  time,  as  well  as  Paul 
Potter,  Van  Ostade,  and  others  of  more  modern  date,  made  their 
cows,  bulls,  and  oxen  vulgar  and  uncouth  in  shape,  and  wretched 
in  condition.  Even  landscape  painters  of  the  present  day,  with 
a  silly  affectation  of  "art,"  will  put  nothing  resembling  the 
noble  contour  of  our  improved  cattle  into  a  picture,  but  select 
some  unhappy  brute,  depleted  with  poverty,  and  unkempt,  as 
a  wild  buffalo  in  appearance,  to  give  piquancy  and  effect  to  their 
drawings.  For  such  slanderers  of  these  noble  animals,  we  have 
no  respect  whatever,  nor  for  the  taste  of  artists  in  the  way 
of  cattle,  while  yielding  an  unqualified  admiration  to  their 
fidelity  and  skill  in  other  subjects. 

Our  modern  animal  painters  have  done  better.  Landseer,  and 
Herring,  among  the  English  artists,  have  accorded  somewhat  of 
justice  to  their  objects,  while  some  of  the  Continental,  and 
American  artists  in  that  line,  have  drawn  our  improved  domestic 
animals — cattle  as  well  as  others — with  admirable  truth  and 
fairness. 

The  ancients  had  a  high  respect  and  admiration  for  their  cattle. 
We  cannot  admire  the  Egyptian  worship  of  their  ox,  apis — a 


NEAT    CATTLE.  27 

magnificent  tomb  of  which  has  been  recently  exhumed — nor  do 
we  look  with  complacency  on  the  present  worship  of  the  Brahma 
bull,  which  has  been  from  time  immemorial  an  object  of  Pagan 
idolatry  in  India ;  but  it  is  evident  that  these  subjects  of  adora- 
tion originated  in  a  most  devout  appreciation  of  the  admirable 
and  useful  qualities  of  the  genus  to  which  they  belonged. 

The  author  of  the  book  of  Job,  which  the  eminent  sacred 
chronologist,  Doctor  Hales,  dates  back  to  the  year  2,337  before 
the  Christian  Era — whether  that  author  was  Job  himself,  or  one 
of  his  cotemporaries — had  a  most  poetic  appreciation  of  the 
value  of  domestic  animals.  He  makes  Job  in  the  days  of  his 
revived  prosperity,  the  owner  of  "one  thousand  yoke  of  oxen," 
in  the  enumeration  of  his  great  wealth  of  goods  and  chattels. 
Jeremiah — B.  C.  628  years,  in  one  of  his  Prophesies — speaks 
of  "a  fair  heifer."  Among  the  Pagan  writers,  Homer,  eighteen 
hundred  years  before  the  Christian  Era,  celebrates  the  noble 
bullocks  with  ''golden  knobs,"  or  balls,  "on  the  tips  of  their 
horns,"  and  describes  the  manner  of  the  artisan  in  putting  them 
on.  Among  the  heathen  deities,  Juno  is  named  as  "ox  eyed," 
in  those  clear  and  liquid  features  of  her  countenance.  Virgil, 
who  wrote  his  Georgiacs  just  before  the  birth  of  Christ,  cele- 
brates the  beautiful  cattle  of  the  Roman  Campagnas,  and  their 
value  in  the  agriculture  of  the  people. 

Oxen  were  used  for  labor  in  husbandry,  and  more  or  less  in 
commerce,  in  all  countries  where  neat  cattle  were  kept,  and  could 
endure  the  climate  well,  as  being  the  most  convenient  beast  of 
burden.  It  is  probable  that  they  were  bred  in  their  best  estate 
by  those  who  used  them,  and  the  cows  were  cultivated  for  dairy 
and  household  uses  in  the  family.  As  they  spread  west 
and  north  into  the  higher  latitudes  and  elevations  of  Europe, 
they  somewhat  changed  their  characters  and  became,  as  now 
known  there,  acclimated  and  fitted  to  their  new  conditions,  and 
inured  to  the  habits  of  the  people  who  kept  them.  We  may 


28  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

suppose,  too,  that  in  the  severer  climates  they  were  afforded 
somewhat  of  shelter,  and  more  pains-taking  in  food  and  treat- 
ment, than  in  the  milder  latitudes  where  they  had  long  ranged, 
and  with  such  increased  care,  improved  in  quality  and  appear- 
ance. They  took,  possibly,  somewhat  different  shapes,  and  con- 
formed, more  or  less,  to  the  uses  to  which  they  were  subjected. 
The  Moors  of  Spain  reared  great  herds  of  neat  cattle,  and  from 
them  descended  the  dominant  races  of  Spanish  herds.  They 
were  there  the  progenitors  of  the  savage  and  headstrong  bulls 
still  sacrificed  in  the  arena  of  bull-fights  and  picadores.  The 
Gauls  of  France,  bred  the  gentler  and  more  economical  forms  of 
cattle  adapted  to  a  better  husbandry. 

By  what  gradual,  peculiar,  or  natural  progresses  these  Euro- 
pean cattle  acquired  their  present  distinctive  characteristics,  we 
have  no  definite  information.  History  is  either  altogether  silent 
or  obscure  on  these  subjects,  and  we  have  no  better  guide  than 
conjecture  to  inform  us.  Throughout  Western  Europe  numerous 
different  breeds  exist,  of  diverse  qualities,  all  more  or  less  use- 
ful for  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  applied,  and  profitable  to 
the  people  who  breed  and  rear  them.  Italy,  France,  Spain, 
Germany.  Switzerland,  Holland,  and  other  Northern  countries, 
each  have  their  peculiar  national  breeds,  while  England,  Scot- 
land and  Ireland  have  many  varieties  widely  divergent  in  char- 
acter and  appearance.  Indeed,  it  is  not  necessary,  unless  for 
speculation  or  curiosity,  that  we  know  the  particulars  of  their 
history  or  progress,  inasmuch  as  we,  in  America,  are  already  in 
possession  of  the  best  breeds  of  Western  Europe,  fully  answer- 
ing our  own  immediate  purposes,  and  have  successfully  natural- 
ized them  on  our  soils. 


CHAPTER  III. 

HISTORY    OF    AMERICAN     CATTLE INTRODUCED     BY    THE     SPAN- 
IARDS   INTO    MEXICO BY    THE    ENGLISH    INTO    VIRGINIA BY 

THE    DUTCH    INTO   NEW  YORK BY  THE    ENGLISH    INTO  OTHER 

COLONIES. 

IT  has  been  said,  or  conjectured,  by  some  speculative  antiqua- 
rians, that  neat  cattle  were  introduced  to  the  Continent  of 
America  by  the  "Northmen,"  who  are  supposed  to  have  made 
a  descent  on  to  the  coast  from  North-western  Europe  some 
centuries  before  the  discovery  of  the  Continent  by  Columbus. 
This,  however,  is  simply  a  conjecture,  as  no  cattle  were  known 
before  they  were  brought  out  by  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
emigrants,  a  few  years  after  the  voyages  of  Columbus.  In  the 
year  1519,  the  Spaniard,  Cortez,  discovered  Mexico.  He  first 
made  a  landing  at  Vera  Cruz,  and  not  long  afterwards  pene- 
trated to  the  City  of  Mexico,  then  ruled  by  Montezuma.  The 
object  of  Cortez  and  his  party  was  conquest.  They  were 
accompanied  by  a  troop  of  horses,  on  which  his  cavalry  were 
mounted  for  military  purposes ;  but  we  have  no  account  of  any 
cattle  in  his  expedition.  Mexico  soon  became  a  colony  of  Spain, 
and  was  rapidly  settled  by  emigrants  from  that  country.  Their 
first  object  was  gold,  and  trade  with  the  natives,  and  to  their 
acquisitions  followed  agriculture,  which  brought  in  cattle  from 
Spain. 

We  may  suppose  that  cattle  were  introduced  there  as  early  as 
the  year  1525,  and  in  the  mild  climate  and  abundant  pasturage 
which  the  country  afforded,  they  rapidly  increased.  As  Mexico 
became  peopled  and  spread  her  population  along  the  coast,  and 


30  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

into  the  interior,  in  the  course  of  time  Texas  was  reached,  and 
there  were  spread  the  foundations  for  the  immense  herds  of 
Mexican,  or,  as  we  now  call  them,  Texan  cattle.  California 
was  afterwards  settled  by  the  Spanish  Mexicans,  who  drove  their 
cattle  thither,  and  in  time,  scattered  over  it  numerous  herds. 
Of  these  we  will  speak  hereafter. 

In  what  are  now  the  "United  States,"  the  first  English  colo- 
nial settlement  was  made  in  Virginia,  on  the  James  river,  in 
the  year  1607,  by  a  colony  of  a  hundred  men,  which,  by  suffer- 
ing, disease,  and  want  of  food,  was  reduced  within  a  year,  to 
thirty-eight.  In  1609,  by  new  emigrations,  the  colony  was 
increased  to  five  hundred  persons;  but  in  a  few  months  they 
were  reduced  by  death  to  sixty.  Many  cows  were  carried  from 
the  West  India  Islands  to  Virginia  in  1610,  and  1611.  In  suc- 
ceeding years  more  adventurers  came  out,  but  in  1622,  three 
hundred  and  forty-seven  men,  women  and  children  were  massa- 
cred by  Indians,  and  the  colony,  in  effect,  broken  up.  Whether 
their  cattle  were  also  destroyed,  we  have  no  account;  but  the 
settlement  was  soon  after  renewed  under  better  auspices  and 
protection,  and  neat  cattle  were  further  introduced  and 
propagated. 

New  York  was  first  settled  in  the  year  1614,  by  the  Dutch. 
That  colony,  after  some  vicissitudes,  prospered.  The  first 
importation  of  neat  cattle  there,  is  said  to  have  been  in  the  year 
1625,  from  the  mother  country,  Holland,  and  they  rapidly  in- 
creased in  numbers,  both  in  breeding  and  further  importation. 

In  1620,  the  English  Plymouth  colony  landed  in  Massachu- 
setts. In  1623,  further  English  colonies  came  out  and  settled  at 
Boston,  and  in  New  Hampshire.  In  1624,  the  first  arrival  of 
cattle  entered  Massachusetts  Bay.  These  were  soon  followed 
by  other  arrivals.  New  Jersey  was  settled  by  the  Dutch  in 
1624,  and  Delaware  by  the  Swedes  in  1627,  who  brought  cattle 
with  them.  The  early  records  of  New  Hampshire  state  that  in 


INTRODUCED    BY    THE    ENGLISH.  .°.  1 

the  years  1631,  '32  and  '33,  Captain  John  Mason  made  several 
importations  of  cattle  into  that  State  from  Denmark,  to  supply 
the  Danish  emigrants  who  had  settled  on  the  Piscataqua  river. 
These  Danish  cattle  were  coarse,  large  beasts,  and  yellowish  in 
color.  Settlements  were  made  in  Maryland  in  1633;  in  North 
and  South  Carolina  in  1660  and  1670;  and  in  Pennsylvania  in 
1682,  all  by  the  English,  who  either  with  the  first  settlers,  or 
soon  after,  brought  cattle  over,  chiefly  from  the  counties  nearest 
the  ports  from  which  they  sailed.  In  all  probability,  numerous 
importations  of  cattle  were  annually  made  into  the  several  col- 
onies, during  successive  years,  as  the  emigrants  came  in  rapidly, 
and  the  few  early  importations,  with  their  increase,  were  insuf- 
ficient to  supply  their  wants.  That  cattle  multiplied,  both  by 
natural  increase  and  importation,  is  evident.  We  see  it  recorded, 
that  in  the  year  1636,  a  party  of  emigrants  went  out  to  settle 
the  town  of  Northboro,  Massachusetts,  thirty  miles  west  of 
Boston,  and  in  a  company  of  one  hundred  men,  women  and 
children,  they  drove  with  them  one  hundred  and  sixty  cattle — 
and  that  was  but  twelve  years  after  the  first  importation  into 
the  colony. 

From  these  diverse  and  miscellaneous  beginnings,  our 
"  native  "  cattle  originated.  Of  what  distinctive  breeds  they  were 
selected,  if  selected  with  reference  to  breed  at  all,  we  have  no 
information,  nor,  at  this  distance  of  time,  can  we  be  at  all  certain. 
Distinct  breeds  did  then  exist,  well  defined  in  their  characteris- 
tics, both  in  England,  and  Scotland,  and  we  are  to  presume,  that 
needy  and  necessitous  as  the  emigrants  mostly  were — going  out 
for  "conscience  sake,"  as  many  of  them  did,  and  in  a  hope  to 
better  their  fortunes  with  all — they  paid  little  regard  to  breed 
or  race  in  their  cattle,  so  that  they  gave  milk,  performed  labor, 
and  propagated  their  kind. 

As  the  colonists  grew  in  numbers,  and  prospered  in  gear, 
their  cattle,  now  become  a  leading  branch  of  husbandry,  aided 


32  AMERICAN   £ATTLE. 

much  in  their  subsistence.  Families  of  considerable  wealth  from 
"home,"  began  to  add  their  numbers  to  the  earlier  emigrants,  and 
brought  with  them  domestic  stock  of  various  kind,  provided  them 
forage,  and  gave  them  shelter,  and  in  some  instances,  probably, 
selected  choice  specimens  from  favorite  breeds  in  the  localities 
from  whence  they  came,  with  which  to  improve  those  previously 
imported,  or  their  descendants,  the  then  native  herds.  But  in  a 
new  country,  harrassed  by  hostile  savages,  difficult  of  locomo- 
tion and  intercourse  with  each  other  in  distant  settlements,  their 
cattle  were  localized  and  confined  to  their  own  immediate  neigh- 
borhoods, pushing  out  into  new  districts  only  with  the  adventur- 
ous parties  forming  settlements,  where  they  could,  of  necessity, 
pay  little  attention  to  selection  or  "improvement"  in  their  herds. 
They  took  such  as  they  had,  or  such  as  they  could  get,  at  the 
least  possible  cost,  as  "browse"  for  the  first  few  years  was  their 
principal  forage  in  winter,  "leeks"  in  spring,  and  coarse  grass 
in  summer  and  autumn  for  pasturage.  The  best  they  could  do 
was  to  provide  food  for  their  families,  and  let  their  cattle  shift 
for  themselves.  We  presume  however,  that  the  earlier  colonists, 
having  become  well  settled  and  thrifty  in  circumstances,  cared 
well  for  their  herds  and  measurably  improved  their  quality. 

Thus,  undoubtedly,  stood  the  condition  of  the  neat  cattle  of 
the  colonies  down  into  the  years  1700,  and  after.  We  have 
accounts  that,  as  the  merchants  of  the  sea-coast  towns  grew 
rich,  some  enterprising  ones  made  importations  of  choice  breeds 
from  England,  which  were  driven  into  the  country  neighbor- 
hoods, and  very  considerably  benefited  their  common  stock. 

In  the  year  1608,  Quebec,  in  Lower  Canada,  was  founded  by 
the  French,  and  soon  afterwards,  colonists  came  in  consider- 
able numbers  from  the  western  coast  of  France,  and  brought 
with  them  the  little  Normandy,  or  Brittany  cattle,  closely  allied 
in  blood,  appearance,  and  quality,  to  the  "Alderney  "  cows  of  the 
Channel  Islands.  They  are  now  propagated  in  all  Lower 


INTRODUCED  BY  THE  FRENCH.  33 

Canada,  and  throughout  the  many  ancient  French  seignories  in 
large  numbers,  forming  their  principal  stock  of  neat  cattle. 
They  proved  excellent  milkers,  hardy,  easy  of  keep,  and  profit- 
able for  the  dairy.  They  are  also  tolerable  for  the  yoke,  and 
for  beef.  In  their  remote  distance,  and  limited  intercourse  with 
the  people  of  the  English  colonies,  it  is  not  probable  that  their 
herds  became  intermixed.  "We  have  no  accounts  of  the  kind,  and 
the  peculiar  characteristics  of  the  cattle  now  there,  after  nearly 
two  hundred  years  of  acclimation  and  breeding,  show  no  rela- 
tions with  the  New  England  stock  of  our  Northern  States. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

QUALITY,  CONDITION,  AND  APPEARANCE  OF  OUR  NATIVE  CATTLE 

To  arrive  at  a  full  understanding  of  the  varied  character 
which  our  American  cattle  present  to  a  discriminating  eye,  we 
must  know  something  of  the  prevailing  breeds  of  the  several 
European  localities  from  which  their  progenitors  were  derived. 
For  the  present,  we  leave  out  the  Spanish  cattle  of  Mexico,  as 
they  are  localized  only  in  the  far  South-west,  and  do  not  com- 
prise any  considerable  portion  of  our  ordinary  herds.  They  are 
now  driven  into  the  upper  States,  in  few  numbers,  only  for 
slaughter,  and  are  not  recognized  as  belonging  to  our  "native" 
stock. 

The  Dutch  settlers  of  New  York  brought  their  first  cattle 
from  Holland.  Those  cattle  then,  as  now,  were  distinctive  in 
their  appearance,  of  fair  size,  roughly  formed,  black  and  white 
mostly,  in  color,  with  red  occasionally  intermixed;  short,  stubbed, 
and  crumpled  in  the  horn ;  good  milkers,  and  generally  useful  ani- 
mals. These  cattle,  for  many  years,  followed  the  Dutch  settle- 
ments along  up  the  valley  of  the  Hudson  river  and  its  tributaries, 
and  became  the  chief  stock  of  those  localities. 

We  know  little  of  the  early  cattle  of  Virginia,  only  that  they 
came  from  the  "West  Indies,  and  England;  but  as  the  eastern  sec- 
tions of  the  State  were  not  a  pastoral  country,  cattle  were  only  a 
secondary  interest  in  the  agriculture  of  the  people,  and  little 
attention  was  paid  to  their  improvement.  The  Swedes  brought 
some  cattle  with  them  into  Delaware — of  what  character  we  are 
uninformed — but  as  they  were  soon  superceded  by  the  English, 


APPEARANCE    OF    NATIVE    OATTI.K.  U5 

no  doubt  the  herds  or  the  latter  became  the  leading  stock.  The. 
early  English  settlers  of  the  Carolinas  brought  cattle  with  them 
from  their  native  land,  and  although  numbers  of  the  Huguenots 
from  France  followed  them,  and  probably  brought  French  cattle 
from  Normandy,  the  English  stock  became  the  predominating 
race.  North,  and  east  of  New  York,  the  first  settlements  were 
mostly  English,  followed  afterwards  by  a  few  Scotch,  and 
occasionally  by  Protestants  from  the  North  of  Ireland,  and 
some  Danes,  into  New  Hampshire,  and  Maine.  Thus  the  great 
preponderance  of  the  early  importations  of  cattle  were  from 
Britain,  and  as  the  Dutch  colony  of  New  York  was  subdued 
and  occupied  by  the  English  in  the  year  1664,  after  which  the 
New  England  people  poured  rapidly  into  the  territory  immedi- 
ately adjoining  their  different  settlements,  we  may  suppose  their 
neat  stock  followed  and  became  the  predominating  cattle  of  their 
districts.  Thus,  the  cattle  of  the  colonies  were  mainly  of 
British  origin. 

In  a  country  of  salubrious  climate,  a  genial  soil,  in  the  hands 
of  industrious  and  pains-taking  people,  with  an  eye  to  thrift, 
their  neat  cattle  multiplied  rapidly,  and  we  may  suppose,  that 
after  a  fifty  years'  settlement,  they  required  few  further  importa- 
tions. From  what  parts  of  England,  or  Scotland,  and  of  what 
particular  breeds  these  importations  were  derived,  judging  from 
their  appearances  at  a  later  day,  may  become  a  question.  We 
have  noticed  the  characteristics  of  the  early  Dutch  cattle,  and 
even  at  the  present  day,  strong  resemblances  to  them  are  found 
in  some  of  the  localities  where  the  descendants  of  the  settlers 
from  Holland  still  remain.  Some  inquirers  have  with  great  con- 
fidence asserted,  judging  from  the  cleaner  limbs,  the  red  color, 
and*  activity  of  the  working  oxen  of  New  England,  that  the 
Devons  were  the  original  stock  of  its  colonies,  fortified  by  the 
fact  that  the  first  settlers  were  from  Plymouth,  a  city  of  Devon- 
shire, on  the  western  coast  of  England,  the  favored  home  of 


36  AMERICAN'    CATTLE. 

that  breed.  But,  in  answer  to  that  conclusion,  the  first  cattle 
were  imported  into  Boston,  four  years  later  than  the  Plymouth 
colony,  and  Boston  was  called  after  a  town  in  Lincolnshire,  on 
the  eastern  coast  of  England,  though  history  is  silent  as  to  the 
particular  .localities  from  which  these  cattle  were  drawn.  It  is 
safe  to  conclude  that  the  various  importations  were  selected  from 
the  counties  nearest  the  ports  where  the  animals  were  shipped, 
and  were  of  such  character  as  the  people  selecting  them  had 
been  accustomed,  or  were  partial  to,  and  that  the  herds  thus 
brought  out  were  an  aggregation  of  several  of  the  different 
breeds,  which,  once  in  the  colonies,  became  intermixed  in  all 
possible  degrees,  without  regard  to  their  original  stock,  and 
taking  such  character  as  the  fancy  or  taste  of  their  different 
owners  preferred.  Hence,  they  became  here  a  mixed  race,  par- 
taking more  or  less  in  appearance  of  their  original  blood,  some 
predominating  over  others. 

The  Devons,  red  in  color,  clean  limbed,  and  sprightly  in 
action,  undoubtedly  came  over,  and  were  many  in  number,  as 
their  descendants,  more  or  less  strong  in  the  original  blood,  have 
shown.  The  Herefords,  also,  were  here,  with  their  larger  bodies, 
white  faces  and  throats.  The  coarser  short-horns  of  Lincoln- 
shire, from  its  own  port  of  Boston,  came  too,  with  great  car- 
casses, loosely  put  together,  mixed  colors,  bountiful  in  milk,  and 
strong  for  labor.  The  long-horns  from  Lancashire,  shipped  at 
its  port  of  Liverpool,  occasionally  came  out,  as  shown  in  many 
New  England  cattle  late  in  the  last  century,  and  early  in  this. 
The  polled,  or  hornless  cows  of  Suffolk,  and  Norfolk,  and  possi- 
bly some  Galloways  from  Scotland,  came,  as  their  descendants 
are  still  seen  in  the  numerous  polled  cattle  of  Long  Island,  New 
Jersev,  and  a  few  other  localities.  TVith  many  people  these 
polled  cows,  famous  for  milk,  are  decided  favorites.  It  is  probable, 
also,  that  an  occasional  shipment  of  Alderney,  or  the  Channel 
Tslfind  cattle,  was  made  from  the  coast  of  Hampshire,  where 


CONDITION    OP    NATIVE    CATTLE.  37 

they  have  long  been  kept,  and  now  and  then  a  Kyloe,  from  the 
South  of  Scotland.  From  all  these  sources,  our  native  cattle 
originated,  and  so  strongly  have  their  different  characteristics 
prevailed,  that  even  now,  in  the  localities  where  they  have  long 
been  kept,  an  occasional  one  may  be  found  in  which  a  prepon- 
derance of  the  original  blood  "crops  out,"  denoting  its  proba- 
ble descent. 

As  emigration  proceeded  from  the  eastern  coast  to  the 
interior,  their  neat  cattle  went  with  the  people,  intermixing 
still  more  in  their  new  and  scattered  localities,  until  they  became 
an  indefinite  compound  of  all  their  original  breeds,  and  compos- 
ing, as  we  now  find  them,  a  multitude  of  all  possible  sorts, 
colors,  shapes  and  sizes.  Thus  our  "native  cattle,"  as  we  call 
them,  have  no  distinctive  character,  or  quality,  although  in  some 
of  the  States,  as  a  stock,  they  are  better  than  in  others.  In  the 
rough  lands  of  New  England  where  oxen  were,  and  are  still 
chiefly  used  for  farm  labor,  and  the  dairy  has  long  been  an 
important  branch  of  agricultural  industry,  their  oxen  are  admir- 
able for  work,  and  their  cows  celebrated  for  their  dairy  qualities. 
They  had  also  been  bred  with  more  care  to  selection  than  in 
almost  any  other  section.  The  farmers  preferred  the  red  color, 
and  high,  spreading  horns,  leaning  more  towards  the  Devons,  and 
Herefords.  In  fact,  during  the  last  century,  and  the  earlier  part 
of  the  present,  the  New  England  cattle  were  spoken  of  by 
many  partial  admirers  as  a  "breed,"  so  carefully  had  certain 
qualities  been  cultivated  in  them  by  their  breeders.  The  "South 
Branch"  of  the  Potomac,  in  Western  Virginia,  a  broad,  fertile, 
and  fine  pastoral  region,  has  long  been,  down  to  a  late  day, 
celebrated  for  its  fine  cattle.  From  them  sprung  the  well-known 
herds  of  the  "Blue  Grass"  regions  of  Kentucky,  and  the  Scioto 
valley,  famous  in  the  Philadelphia  and  Baltimore  markets  as 
beef  cattle,  before  the  short-horns  of  the  "Patton  stock,"  and 
the  ''importations  of  1817"  were  sent  among  them. 


38  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

The  best  cattle  have  not  always  followed  the  best  lands. 
Those  people  who  planted  themselves  in  the  finer  grain  growing 
regions  of  the  interior,  although  using  oxen  for  labor,  more  or 
less,  until  their  farms  were  subdued  and  brought  into  easier  cul- 
tivation, abandoned  them  for  horses,  as  beasts  of  labor,  and 
became  indifferent  to  any  selection  of  breeds;  and  as  they  did 
not  become  graziers,  or  dairymen,  except  for  domestic  use,  and 
the  supply  of  the  local  markets  with  beef  and  butter,  they  paid 
little  attention  to  their  cows,  in  comparison  with  those  who  made 
beef,  and  butter,  and  cheese  their  chief  staples ;  thus  their  cattle 
stock  was  inferior.  It  was  so  with  the  planting  interests  of  the 
South;  cattle  became  a  secondary  object  throughout  the  Mid- 
dle and  Southern  States,  and  so  remained  until  a  comparatively 
recent  time. 

The  result  of  all  these  indefinite  and  purposeless  intermixtures 
of  breed  is  now  daily  seen  in  herds  which  are  brought  into  our 
eastern  markets,  from  the  principal  stock  growing  States — a 
huge  preponderance  of  inferior  animals,  both  bullocks  and  cows. 
They  are  of  all  possible  shapes,  colors,  and  character,  from  the 
very  worst  to  tolerably  good,  except  in  those  districts  where 
"improved"  blood  has  been  introduced,  and  better  care  in  breed- 
ing and  keeping  has  been  practiced.  There,  really  fine  cattle 
are  to  be  found.  The  chief  defects  of  these  common  cattle  are 
in  their  lack  of  early  maturity,  (requiring  five  to  seven  years  to 
mature  them,)  hard  "handling,"  prominence  of  bone,  a  large  pro- 
portion of  offal  to  flesh,  and  an  uncertainty  both  as  to  the  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  milk  with  the  cows — all  resulting  from 
negligence,  and  want  of  care  in  breeding  and  using  them.  It 
would  appear  from  the  looks  of  these  animals,  that  the  best  bull 
calves — if  there  were  any  best  about  them — were  made  into 
steers,  and  the  meanest  kept  for  propagating  their  race,  and  the 
best  heifers,  tending  to  early  maturity,  were  turned  into  beef, 
while  the  worst  were  reserved  for  breeding,  and  the  dairy. 


PROFITS  OF  NATIVE  CATTLE.  39 

Such  might  be  supposed  the  rule.  That  there  have  been,  and 
still  are,  many  exceptions  to  the  above  somewhat  broad  remark, 
is  admitted,  but  these  exceptions  are  of  stock  belonging  to  pains- 
taking individuals  and  communities  in  the  best  cattle  rearing 
districts,  rather  than  among  the  farmers  generally. 

As  to  the  profit  of  breeding,  rearing,  and  fattening  cattle  of 
the  lower  qualities  above  noticed,  perhaps  the  less  said  the 
better.  That  there  was  not,  and  is  not  any  profit  in  them,  com- 
pared with  well  selected,  and  well  bred  animals  of  the  kind,  is 
certain.  They  are  great  consumers  of  food  in  proportion  to  the 
flesh  they  carry,  as  a  beef  animal;  and  although  numerous 
instances  of  wonderful  feats  at  the  pail  have  been  recorded  of 
the  cows,  yet  the  uncertainty  of  even  these  good  cows  pro- 
ducing an  offspring  equally  meritorious,  has  been  an  utter  bar  to 
establishing  a  race,  from  among  themselves,  of  superior,  or  even 
standard  value  for  the  dairy.  It  is  a  chance  medley  affair 
altogether — a  mere  ticket  in  a  lottery,  the  chances  of  drawing 
a  blank  greater  than  that  of  a  prize. 

To  the  farmer,  then,  desirous  of  getting  a  foundation  for  a 
profitable  stock,  either  for  beef,  working  oxen,  or  the  dairy, 
from  such  incongruous  intermixtures,  his  chances  are,  at  the  best, 
precarious.  He  may  make  selections  from  them,  perhaps,  which 
will  promise  something,  and  by  a  long  course  of  pains-taking  he 
may  improve  them  to  some  perceptible  extent ;  but  at  the  end 
of  a  lifetime  he  will  find  the  same  things  on  his  hands  at  last. 
Thus,  his  efforts  will  prove,  in  the  absence  of  really  good  breeds 
crossed  upon  them,  a  failure.  That  he  may  make  selections 
ot  cows  from  such  stock,  on  which,  with  the  use  of  bulls  of  good 
established  breeds,  he  can  build  up  valuable  herds  for  the  sham- 
bles, the  yoke,  and  the  dairy,  is  certain.  These  native  cows, 
from  the  necessities  of  the  case,  must  be  the  foundation  on 
which  he  must  rely  for  that  purpose,  the  manner  of  which  we 
shall  more  thoroughly  discuss  hereafter. 


40  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

In  summing  up  the  foregoing  remarks,  the  reader  will  conclude 
that  the  writer  has  little  affection  for  our  "native"  cattle.  In 
the  mass,  he  has  not.  Yet  there  are  wide  and  numerous  excep- 
tions, and  among  these  exceptions  we  can  name  no  definite  class 
of  the  natives  among  which  to  particularize.  Our  choice  would 
be  of  individual  animals  only,  not  of  herds  taken  as  they  run. 
Even  on  those  of  our  choice,  we  would  not  rely  for  improvement 
by  breeding  among  themselves  only,  but  by  the  introduction  of 
pure  bred  bulls  of  some  established  breed,  would  we  look  for 
permanent  progress  in  our  herds. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE  ANATOMICAL  AND  ECONOMICAL  POINTS  OF  CATTLE. 

As  a  good  deal  will  hereafter  necessarily  be  said  upon  the 
various  points  of  cattle,  an  illustration  of  them  is  given  in  the 
animal  itself.  It  is  the  outline  side  view  of  a  well  bred  short- 
horn ox,  but  applicable  to  any  other  breed— or  no  breed — as 
well,  and  will  show  the  various  parts  more  or  less  valuable  as  a 
consumable  article,  or  as  delineating  qualities,  the  prominence  in 
which,  in  either  sex,  may  render  them  desirable  for  the  uses 
which  are  to  be  made  of  them. 


A— Forehead. 
B— Face. 
C—  Cheek. 
D— Muzzle. 
E— Neck. 
F— Neck  vein. 
G—  Shoulder  point. 
H— Arm. 
I  -Shank. 


Plate  1. 

REFERENCES. 

J  —  Hock,  or  gambrtl. 

S—  Round  bone. 

K—  Elbow. 

T—  Buttock. 

L  —  Brisket,  or  breast. 
M—  Shoulder. 

U—  Thigh,  or  gas'.dt. 
V—  Flank. 

N-Crops. 

W—  Plates. 

0—  Loin. 

X—  Back,  or  chine. 

P—  Hip. 

Y—  Throat. 

Q  —  Crupper  bone. 
It—  Rump. 

Z—  Chest. 

42  AMERICAN*    CATTLE. 

These  points  it  is  necessary  that  every  cattle  manager  should 
understand,  as  they  are  the  marks  which,  in  their  development, 
or  absence,  make  up  a  great  share  of  the  value,  or  beauty,  or 
ugliness  of  shape  of  the  animal.  The  prominence  of  these 
points  vary  in  the  different  breeds,  or  races.  They  also  indi- 
cate, measurably,  to  what  uses,  and  to  what  soils,  the  animals 
more  strongly  showing  them,  are  best  adapted,  and  a  familiarity 
with  the  terms  necessary  to  mark  the  criticisms  which  breeders 
or  graziers  may  make  on  them. 

A  rear  view  of  the  animal,  which  is  hardly  necessary  to  give, 
would  develop  another  point  which  is  omitted  in  the  diagram, 
viz.:  The  "twist,"  or  junction  of  the  thighs,  the  proper  position 
of  which,  high  or  low,  is  quite  important  in  adding  to  or  sub- 
tracting from  the  value  of  the  beast.  The  point  is  named  here, 
as  a  reference  may  frequently  be  made  to  it  hereafter. 

The  true  value  of  an  animal  for  beef  purposes,  depends  on 
its  lightness  of  "offal"  when  slaughtered,  in  comparison  with  its 
flesh;  therefore  the  less  bone,  and  poor  flesh,  the  better.  A 
coarse  and  open  bone,  by  which  is  meant  an  undue  growth  and 
protuberance  of  that  portion  of  the  carcass,  carries  with  it  less 
valuable  flesh  than  a  fine,  compact  bone;  therefore  no  more 
bone  is  necessary  than,  in  its  proper  position  and  development, 
will  give  the  substance  and  breadth  necessary  to  carry  the 
amount  of  flesh  required.  Some  cattle  are  so  loosely,  or  sleazily 
put  together  that  the  ligaments  necessary  to  connect  the  dif- 
ferent parts  of  their  bodies  are  unnecessarily  large,  making  tough 
meat,  though  ever  so  well  fed;  thus  rough,  coarse  animals  are 
unprofitable  in  every  way,  as  they  are  large  consumers  of  food, 
and  weigh  less  at  slaughtering  than  the  more  compact  ones  of 
less  apparent  size,  while  their  flesh  is  of  inferior  quality.  Coarse 
bone  bears  more  offal  (bone  is  offal,)  in  worthless  flesh,  in  pro- 
portion to  live  weight,  than  fine  bone  does.  Coarse  bone  gives 
more  dewlap,  and  loose  skin,  than  fine,  and  as  the  hide  is  usually 


ECONOMICAL    POINTS.  43 

of  less  value  than  flesh,  an  undue  weight  of  hide  is  unprofitable. 
Coarse  bone  gives  less  tallow,  too,  a  larger  belly,  more  paunch, 
and  less  lungs,  besides  more  "daylight"  under  the  carcass — all 
bad  points.  In  short,  a  coarse,  rough  boned  beast  is  bad,  all 
round,  while  a  smooth,  fine  bone,  properly  placed,  is  a  great 
excellence,  either  in  a  bullock  for  slaughter,  a  working  ox,  or  a 
milking  cow;  and  this  fineness  should  prevail  throughout,  from 
the  muzzle  to  the  tail,  and  the  hoofs.  As  a  rule,  -strength, 
activity,  and  good  constitution  accompany  fine  boned  animals, 
while  comparative  weakness,  sluggishness,  and  tendency  to 
disease  accompany  large  boned  ones.  Horn  is  offal;  therefore 
an  undue  development  of  it  is  worthless — not  only  worthies?, 
but  a  damage,  and  like  bone,  an  utter  loss  in  the  weight  of  car- 
cass. Hide  being  of  less  value,  no  greater  development  of  that 
material  is  needed  than  to  answer  its  purpose  of  protection  t<> 
the  flesh  and  muscle  beneath  it;  therefore  a  rough,  thick,  am1 
heavy  hide  is  a  bad  point;  yet  whatever  the  hide  may  be,  it 
should  be  sufficiently  loose  and  flexible  to  the  touch  to  indicate 
an  elastic  flesh  within  it.  The  head — usually  all  offal — is  in 
most  instances  a  fair  indication  of  the  character  of  a  beast. 
A  coarse,  bony  head  almost  always  accompanies  a  coarse  boned 
body,  and  a  comely,  handsome  head  a  fine  boned  one.  So  with 
the  tail,  coarse  or  fine,  as  the  creature  itself  may  be. 

Having  given  a  diagram  of  a  comely,  well  bred  beast,  \ve 
now  refer  to  some  decidedly  bad  ones.  It  might  be  considered 
hardly  worth  while  to  do  so,  when  one  can  so  readily  find  them 
out  of  doors,  but  for  ready  comparison  we  refer  to  the  cut  of 
Texan  cattle  in  another  place,  and  the  analysis  of  points  just 
given  in  the  good  beast,  may  be  applied  to  them  to  mark  the 
difference. 

In  the  Texan  cattle,  their  deficiencies  throughout  are  seen 
in  striking  contrast  to  the  firm,  even  fleshed  carcass  of  the  other. 
The  flat  rib,  narrow  chest,  ragged  dewlap,  thin  flank,  long  leg, 


44  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

and  the  looseness  of  the  anatomy  generally,  contrasted  with 
the  round  springing  rib,  wide  chest,  clean  neck,  deep  flank, 
short  leg,  and  compact  carcass  of  the  other,  shows  the  superi- 
ority of  the  latter  in  every  way,  so  that  the  merest  neophyte 
cannot  mistake  the  difference;  yet  the  spectator  in  our  cattle 
markets  will  see  many  more  bad  specimens  than  good  ones,  and 
many  of  the  bad  not  much  better  than  the  Texans;  or,  if  all 
their  unnecessary  offal,  by  extraordinary  pains  and  feeding,  be 
covered  with  a  reasonable  quantity  of  flesh,  it  is  done  at  a 
great  waste  of  good  fodder. 

Men  inured  by  long  habit  to  a  partiality  for  the  common 
cattle,  always  contending  that  "the  breed  is  in  the  mouth,"  and 
blindly  averse  to  all  improvement,  may  insist  on  the  equality 
of  their  rough  beasts  to  the  finer  ones.  But  it  is  of  no  use. 
Measured  by  the  scales,  both  animal  and  food,  and  the  time  it 
takes  to  bring  the  creature  to  the  block — the  only  way  to  settle 
the  matter — they  must  be  unprofitable;  and,  compared  with 
improved  animals,  the  time,  labor,  and  food  bestowed  on  them 
by  their  owners,  is  measurably  lost.  Our  beef  eating  population 
— and  almost  all  are  such — know  the  difference  between  the 
good  and  poor  article.  They  will  take  the  one  at  a  good  price, 
provided  the  article  can  be  had  at  all,  and  reject  the  other  at 
a  lower  one.  Our  agriculture  is  now  sufficiently  advanced  to 
breed  and  rear  good  animals,  while  the  poor  should  be  discarded ; 
and  it  is  a  waste  of  both  time  and  money  to  adhere  to  the 
poor,  so  long  as  the  valuable  ones  can  be  procured.  Nothing 
but  sheer  ignorance,  or  obstinacy,  can  be  an  apology  for  adhering 
to  a  bad  practice  in  anything ;  and  when  only  a  common  dili- 
gence and  foresight  is  necessary  to  acquire  the  good,  he  who 
doggedly  persists  in  the  bad,  deserves  little  sympathy,  either  for 
his  want  of  success,  or  absolute  losses. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IMPROVED    BREEDS    OF    CATTLE WHAT    ARE    THEY? 

HAVING-  demonstrated — satisfactorily,  we  trust — the  absence 
of  a  due  utility  in  the  common  cattle  of  our  country,  and  the 
need  of  something  better,  we  arrive  at  the  consideration  of 
those  distinct  breeds,  of  foreign  origin,  which  are  to  aid  in 
exalting  our  herds  to  those  points  of  excellence  so  eagerly 
desired  by  all  who  appreciate  our  singular  advantages  of  soil 
and  climate  for  the  attainment  of  that  object. 

It  is  no  new  thing  to  say  that  Great  Britain  in  its  insular 
position,  its  redundant  population,  its  energetic  enterprise,  and 
the  absolute  necessity  which  has  compelled  the  development  of 
every  resource  at  command  to  improve  the  condition  of  its  agri- 
culture, stands  in  advance  of  all  nations  with  which  we  are 
acquainted,  in  the  excellence  of  its  neat  cattle.  Its  enlightened 
land  holders  and  farmers  have  taken  the  different  local  breeds 
long  familiar  to  their  various  districts,  and  by  a  wise  selection, 
care  in  breeding,  and  the  application  of  proper  food  and  treat- 
ment, produced  specimens  of  bovine  excellence  at  once  the 
admiration,  and  worthy  the  imitation  of  all  who  aspire  to  equally 
high  attainments  in  their  stock.  We  say  this  in  no  fulsome 
laudation,  but  with  a  settled  conviction  of  the  fact.  We  have 
tested  in  our  own  country,  the  results  of  their  efforts  hi  the 
improvement  of  their  various  breeds  of  cattle,  and  finding 
them  to  answer  our  purposes  equally  well,  it  is  wise  in  us  to 
follow  their  example  as  it  was  discreet  in  them,  for  their  own 
benefit,  to  become  our  models.  Satisfied,  therefore,  that  we 


46  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

cannot  resort  to  a  better  source  for  the  purposes  we  seek,  a 
description  of  several  of  their  most  approved  breeds  is  necessary, 
that  their  application  to  our  uses  may  be  understood,  and  on 
due  consideration,  adopted. 

Great  Britain  is  an  old  country.  England — all,  probably, 
of  it  that  was  worth  the  conquest — was  invaded  and  possessed 
by  the  Romans  before  the  Christian  Era.  It  was  held  by  them 
so  long  as  they  had  the  power,  and  until  the  unconquered  spirit 
of  the  ancient  Britons,  after  near  four  centuries  of  Roman  rule, 
drove  the  more  civilized  invaders  out  and  re-established  their 
own  authority.  Barbarians,  when  the  Romans  invaded  them, 
comparative  barbarism  still  held  sway  over  the  people  when  the 
Romans  went  out.  The  adjoining  and  even  less  civilized  people 
of  Scotland,  were  hardly  worth  a  conquest  by  the  Romans,  had 
they  sought  it.  They  held  their  own  mountain  fastnesses  and 
barren  islands,  and  only  suffered  by  the  occasional  inroads  of 
the  neighboring  continental  invaders,  who  long  afterwards  rav- 
aged England.  With  the  conquering  Saxons,  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, came  into  England  some  beUer  dawnings  of  civilization 
and  progress  in  the  arts  of  life;  but  with  the  invasion  of  the 
Normans  in  the  eleventh  century,  under  the  first  William,  began 
the  progress  which  has  since  advanced  England,  and  afterward 
Scotland,  to  a  higher  civilization,  and  their  agriculture  to  a 
more  perfect  condition  than  that  of  any  other  country  in  Europe. 

Cattle,  always  numerous  in  England,  furnished  the  people  with 
food  in  their  flesh,  and  partial  clothing  in  their  skins.  They 
were  exported  to  countries  abroad,  with  various  other  articles  of 
commerce,  under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans.  While  the 
Danes  were  ravaging  England  with  varied  success  under  the 
Saxon  rule,  cattle  were  brought  in  from  the  neighboring  conti- 
nent, and  also  exported  from  the  island.  They  were  kept  in 
such  numbers  as  to  be  a  considerable  portion  of  the  wealth  of 
the  people,  and  oxen  were  much  used  for  labor.  With  the 


IMPROVED  BREEDS.  47 

dominion  of  the  Normans,  came  the  division  of  the  land  into  the 
great  estates  given  to  the  retainers  of  the  Conqueror,  and  the 
gradual  subdivision  and  settlement  of  these  estates  into  farms, 
the  establishment  of  a  tenantry,  and  after  a  long  time,  an 
improvement  in  their  agriculture.  There  was  little  intercourse 
among  the  people  belonging  to  different  localities.  Roads  were 
few  and  bad;  for  some  centuries,  the  tenants  mostly  paid  their 
rent  in  kind.  Of  the  cattle  reared  on  the  farms,  the  surplus 
were  chiefly  driven  away  by  dealers  who  purchased  them  of  the 
farmer  at  his  own  door,  or  at  the  neighboring  cattle  fair.  The 
home  herds  were  thus  localized,  and  became  indigenous  to  the 
soils  on  which  they  were  reared.  Hence  breeds  were  gradually 
established  in  different  districts,  or  localities,  although  their  pecu- 
liarities may  have  followed  them  from  remote  periods,  or  been 
introduced  from  abroad.  So  they  descended,  and  we  hear  little 
of  them,  or  their  improvement,  until  a  late  period  in  the  history 
of  British  agriculture. 

Early  after  the  year  1700,  when  Great  Britain  had  become 
one  of  the  first  commercial  nations,  her  commerce  whitening 
every  sea,  and  her  foreign  conquests  and  colonial  settlements 
reaching  various  quarters  of  the  globe,  her  manufactures  become 
a  source  of  great  national  wealth,  and  the  enclosure  of  her 
waste  lands  and  the  highest  improvement  of  her  acres  had 
become  indispensable  to  the  welfare  of  the  people,  we  begin  to 
hear  of  the  improvement  of  her  breeds  of  cattle.  Many  papers 
and  books  have  been  written  about  these  breeds  by  various 
authors,  some  in  the  last  century,  and  more  in  the  present. 
Among  all  the  authors,  Youatt,  the  most  elaborate,  and  discrimi- 
nating in  races,  and  breeds,  together  with  the  compilations  of 
their  several  histories — so  far  as  he  could  find  them — has  been 
the  chief.  This  author,  a  man  of  education  and  a  Veterinary 
Surgeon,  living  in  the  vicinity  of  London,  was  employed  by 
"The  Society  for  the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge"  to  com- 


48  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

pile  a  work  on  "British  Cattle."  The  book  is  chiefly  compiled 
from  various  contributioiis  sent  to  him  by  men  of  knowledge 
and  experience  on  the  subject,  with  accounts  obtained  from 
other  authors,  and  their  publications,  aided  by  personal  observa- 
tions of  his  own.  It  is  an  excellent  book,  on  the  whole,  and 
contains,  probablv,  a  more  correct  body  of  information  in  that 
line  than  can  be  drawn  from  any  other  individual  source,  though 
not  altogether  free  from  error,  or  prejudice.  We  have  drawn  a 
share  of  our  information  from  Youatt,  some  from  other  well- 
known  British  writers  of  the  last  century,  others  in  the  present 
century,  as  well  as  some  from  American  writers.  We  do  not 
name  all  our  authorities — very  few,  indeed — as  many  of  them 
were  authorities  to  Youatt,  as  well  as  to  our  own  writers,  and 
we  find  more  or  less  of  them  quoted  and  repeated  by  all.  It 
is  sufficient  to  say,  that  we  have  examined  and  analyzed,  with 
much  care,  these  various  authorities,  preserving  such  as  bore  the 
semblance  of  truth  and  probability  in  their  accounts,  and  reject- 
ing those  only,  not  necessary  to  our  purpose. 

British  cattle,  by  general  consent  of  these  authors,  appear  to 
be  subdivided  into  four  distinct  classes — the  middle-horned,  long- 
horned,  short-horned,  and  polled,  or  hornless.  They  all  have,  or 
until  recently,  had  their  own  various  localities  and  districts  in 
the  several  parts  of  England  and  Scotland,  where  they  have 
existed  from  a  remote  period.  Each  were  favorites  among  the 
farmers  and  breeders  of  their  homes,  rarely  taken  out  of  their 
districts,  except  for  market,  and  until  after  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  like  the  people  who  reared  them,  strangers  to  other 
parts  of  the  kingdom,  and  migrating  back  and  forth  no  farther 
than  to  the  nearest  market  towns,  or  district  fairs.  Thus  they 
became  homogeneous,  deeply  interbred  among  their  own  tribes, 
and  closely  retaining  their  own  distinctive  qualities,  uncontami- 
nated  by  the  blood  of  other  breeds,  and  transmitting  their  quali- 
ties and  characteristics  with  a  pertinacity  and  truth,  of  which 


IMPROVED    BREEDS.  49 

those  giving  the  subject  little  study,  can  scarce  realize.     As  such 
they  have  come  to  us,  and  only  as  such  we  know  them. 

We  commence  a  description  of  the  different  breeds,  which  our 
volume  is  intended  to  enumerate,  with  the  middle-horned 
breeds  of  England;  and  first  of  these,  take  that  one  appa- 
rently most  ancient  in  lineage. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MIDDLE-HORNED    CATTLE THE    DEVONS. 

THIS  beautiful  race  has  been  -considered,  by  some  authors, 
aboriginal,  and  are  claimed  to  have  been  known  in  England  at 
the  time  of  its  invasion  by  the  Romans.  It  is  certain  that  their 
fineness  of  limb,  uniformity  of  color,  delicacy  of  proportion,  and 
depth  of  breeding,  give  them  claims  to  a  distinction  which  no 
other  race  of  English  cattle  exhibit;  and  be  the  fact  of  their 
remote  origin  as  it  may,  there  is  no  necessity  of  disputing  it,  or 
speculating  on  other  probabilities.  They  are  like  no  others,  and 
by  no  intermixture  of  any  other  known  breeds  have  they  been, 
or  can  they  be  produced. 

In  what  degrees  of  excellence  the  Devons  existed  during  past 
centuries,  we  are  unable  to  say;  but  that  they  possessed  valuable 
qualities  which  endeared  them  strongly  to  the  people  who  bred 
them  is  certain.  Great  attention  has  been  paid  to  their  improve- 
ment during  a  century  past,  and  probably  not  neglected  for 
centuries  before.  Not  a  single  infusion  of  the  blood  of  other 
known  cattle  can  be  detected  in  them,  and  for  their  improve- 
ment, as  Devons,  none  other  can  be  devised.  In  the  good  judg- 
ment, sagacity,  skill,  care,  and  pains-taking  of  their  breeders 
alone,  must  be  sought  the  means  by  which  they  stand  in  their 
present  condition  of  excellence  and  beauty. 

As  no  written  description  can  convey  to  the  unpracticed  eye 
their  exact  appearance,  we  shall  illustrate  them  by  accurate 
portraits,  taken  from  life,  and  as  the  portraits  cannot  show  them 
in  all  their  points,  a  more  particular  description  is  added. 


THE    DEVOXS. 


51 


The  head — lean  in  flesh,  is  .rather  short,  the  forehead  broad,  the 
face  slightly  dishing,  and  tapering  gracefully  to  a  fine,  clean, 
yellow  muzzle.  The  eye — bright,  prominent,  and  surrounded  by 
a  ring  of  orange  colored,  or  yellow  skin.  The  horn — upright, 


Plate  2.    Devon  Bull. 

and  curving  outward,  cream  colored,  black  at  the  tips,  graceful  in 
its  setting,  and  rather  long,  for  the  size  of  the  animal.  The 
ear — well  set,  and  lively  in  action.  The  neck — on  a  level  (in 
the  bull  slightly  arching)  with  the  head  and  shoulders;  full  at 
its  junction  with  the  breast,  clean,  and  without  dewlap.  The 
shoulders — fine,  open,  (somewhat  slanting,  like  those  of  the 
horse,)  and  on  a  level  with  the  back.  The  neck- vein — full,  and 
smooth.  The  arm — delicate,  and  the  leg  below  the  knee,  small, 
terminating  in  a  clean,  dull  brown,  and  somewhat  striped  hoof. 
The  brisket — full,  and  projecting  well  forward.  The  crops — 
Avell  filled,  and  even  with  the  shoulders.  The  back — straight 
from  the  shoulders  to  the  tail.  The  ribs — springing  out  roundly 
from  the  back,  and  running  low  down,  to  enclose  a  full  chest, 


52  AMEKICAN    CATTLE. 

and  setting  well  back  towards  the  hips,  giving  a  snug,  neat 
belly.  The  flanks — full,  and  low.  The  hips — wide,  and  level 
with  the  back.  The  loin — full,  and  level.  The  thigh — well 
fleshed  and  full,  the  lower  part  somewhat  thin,  and  gracefully 
tapering  to  the  hock;  the  leg  below,  small,  flat,  and  sinewy. 
The  twist — (the  space  between  the  thighs)  well  let  down,  and 
open.  The  tail — taper,  like  a  drum  stick,  and  terminating  with 
a  brush  of  white  hair.  The  color — invariably  a  cherry  red, 
sometimes  showing  a  lighter,  or  deeper  shade,  and  the  skin, 
under  the  hair,  a  rich  cream  color.  The  bull,  of  course,  Avill 
show  the  stronger,  and  masculine  character  of  his  sex,  while  the 
ox  will  develop  the  finer  points  of  his  condition,  and  the  cow,  all 
the  delicacy  and  refinement  belonging  to  her  race. 

In  the  roundness,  and  fullness  which  accompany  the  proper 
development  of  the  points  named,  the  silky,  wavy  laying  of  the 
hair,  and  the  elastic  touch  of  the  flesh  as  the  finger  is  pressed 
upon  it,  every  beholder  will  at  once  see,  in  appearance,  a  most 
bloodlike  and  graceful  animal. 

In  size,  the  Devon  is  medium,  compared  with  our  native  cattle. 
A  well  grown  ox,  in  good  working  condition,  will  range  from 
1,400  to  1,600  pounds  live  weight.  The  bull  from  1,000  to 
1,200,  and  the  cow  from  800  to  1,000  pounds.  They  sometimes 
exceed  the  heaviest  of  these  weights,  but  such  are  the  average. 
Fatted  to  a  high  degree,  they  will,  of  course,  weigh  heavier. 
In  size,  it  13  said,  in  England,  that  they  are  larger  than  they 
were  a  hundred  years  ago,  before  the  attention  of  their  breeders 
was  thoroughly  attracted  to  their  improvement.  From  time 
immemorial  they  were  chiefly  bred  in  the  northerly  part  of 
Devonshire,  (and  thus  called  North  Devons,)  one  of  the  south- 
western counties,  in  a  mild  climate,  abounding  in  good  pasturage. 
They  have  since  spread  into  the  adjoining  counties,  and  many 
years  ago,  (within  the  present  century,)  were  taken  into  the 
higher  county  of  Norfolk,  on  the  Eastern  Coast,  by  the  late  Earl 


THE    DEVONS.  53 

of  Leicester,  (then  the  noted  Mr.  Coke,  of  Holkham,  a  distin- 
guished farmer,  and  landed  proprietor,)  as  he  considered  them 
eminently  fitted  for  grazing  on  the  light  sandy  soil  of  his  estates. 
They  are  now  bred  in  many  other  counties  of  England,  and 
are  decided  favorites  on  hilly  soils,  where  their  lighter  weights 
and  activity  in  movement  are  better  adapted  to  grazing  and 
labor  than  the  more  sluggish  cattle  of  the  heavier  breeds. 

The  most  noted  breeders  of  Devon  cattle  in  England,  for  the 
past  forty  years,  have  been  the  Davy  brothers,  Messrs.  Quartly, 
Merson,  Childs,  Turner,  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  and  some  others 
in  the  west  of  England,  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  and.  Mr.  Bloom- 
field,  in  Norfolk,  and  among  the  earliest  of  the  improvers,  the 
Lords  Somerville,  and  "Western.  From  the  herds  of  all  these 
breeders,  noted  prize  animals  have  been  drawn,  and  their  fame 
has  largely  added  to  the  popularity  and  dissemination  of  the 
breed.  As  an  economical  animal,  the  Devon  may  be  classed 
under  three  distinct  heads,  viz.:  for  the  dairy,  the  yoke  and  the 
shambles. 

AS   A    DAIRY    COW, 

The  Devon  may  be  called  medium,  in  the  quantity  of  milk  she 
yields,  and  in  its  quality,  superior.  The  older,  or  unimproved 
race,  were  somewhat  noted  for  the  quantities  of  milk  they  pro- 
duced, as  well  as  its  good  quality.  A  gallon  of  Devon  milk 
yielded  more  butter  than  that  of  almost  any  other  breed,  as  it 
does  now,  except  the  Alderaey.  But  their  improvers,  in  the 
attainment  of  a  finer  form,  and  heavier  substance  in  their  ani- 
mals, perhaps  sacrificed  somewhat  of  the  quantity  of  milk, 
for  the  more  liberal  development  of  flesh,  well  knowing  that 
both  flesh  and  milk  could  not  thrive  equally  together  in  the 
same  animal ;  although,  when  the  milk  ceased,  the  flesh  came  on 
with  due  rapidity,  under  generous  feed.  Yet,  with  an  eye  to 
breeding  her  solely  for  milk,  she  is  well  fitted  for  a  dairy  cow. 
Docile  in  temper,  easy  of  keep,  placable  in  disposition,  she  is 


54 


AMERICAN    CATTLE 


readily  managed.  Her  udder  is  soft,  tidy  in  shape,  with  thin, 
silky  hair  upon  it,  clean,  taper  teats,  easily  drawn,  and  every 
way  satisfactory  to  her  keeper. 

"We  submit  a  portrait  of  a  well  bred  cow,  dry  of  her  milk  and 
fatted,  in  which  will  readily  be  seen  the  fully  developed  charac- 
teristics of  her  race. 


Plate  3.    Devon  Cow. 

As  an  evidence  of  the  milking  qualities  of  the  Devons,  very 
considerable  dairies  of  them  have  long  been  kept  in  England. 
In  Youatt,  is  an  account  by  Mr.  Conyers,  of  Epping,  who,  in 
the  year  1788,  kept  a  dairy  of  them.  "He  preferred  the  Devons 
on  account  of  their  large  produce,  whether  in  milk,  butter,  or  by 
suckling.  He  thought  that  they  held  their  milk  longer  than  any 
other  sort  that  he  had  tried;  that  they  were  liable  to  fewer 
disorders  in  their  udders;  and  being  of  small  size,  they  did  not 
eat  more  than  half  what  larger  cows  consumed.  He  thus  sums 
up  his  account  of  them :  '  Upon  an  average,  ten  cows  gave 
me  sixty  pounds  of  butter  per  week,  in  summer,  and  twenty-four 


THE    DEVON'S.  55 

pounds  in  the  winter.  A  good  North  Devon  cow  fats  two 
calves  a  year.'"  Other  favorable  accounts  are  given,  yet  some 
are  different.  They  speak  of  a  less  quantity  of  milk  given  by 
Devons,  but  the  quality  as  remarkably  rich.  Count  de  Gourcy, 
an  intelligent  French  agriculturist,  and  traveler  in  England, 
remarked  that  Mr.  Bloomfield's  Devon  cows,  on  the  estate  of 
Lord  Leicester,  in  Norfolk,  each  averaged  four  pounds  of  butter 
per  week,  the  year  round. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  English  published  accounts  of  the 
dairy  production  of  the  Devons  are  so  meager.  "We  have  fuller 
and  more  favorable  accounts  of  them  in  America.  Mr.  George 
Patterson,  of  Maryland,  who,  for  many  years  has  owned  the 
largest  herd  of  pure  bred  Devons  in  the  United  States — some 
seventy  or  eighty  in  number — remarked  to  the  writer,  when  at 
his  farm  in  the  year  1842,  that  his  cows  were  better  milkers, 
and  yielded  more  butter  on  an  average  than  any  other  breed. 
His  stock  is  descended  from  some  of  the  best  animals  of  Mr. 
Bloomfield,  the  principal  breeder  of  the  superior  herd  of  the 
Earl  of  Leicester,  (both  already  noticed,)  and  since  crossed  by 
occasional  imported  bulls  from  the  same  herd.  Mr.  Patterson 
has  always  bred  his  cows  with  a  special  eye  to  their  milking 
properties,  and  in  them  and  their  descendants,  in  different  parts 
of  the  country,  have  been  found  many  remarkable  good  milkers. 
Other  accounts,  entered  in  our  memoranda  at  the  time,  were 
equally  satisfactory.  We  have  good  authority  of  some  of  them 
yielding  ten  to  twelve  pounds  of  butter  per  week. 

Other  breeders  who  have  kept  choice  herds  of  Devons  for 
several  years,  have  repeatedly  assured  us  that  they  were  superior 
milkers.  They  have  given  18,  20,  and  22  quarts  of  milk  per 
day,  for  months  after  calving,  under  steady  milking. 

Our  own  experience  has  been  something  in  this  line.  We 
have  kept  thorough  bred  Devons  thirty-four  years — sometimes 
as  high  as  twenty-five  or  thirty  (not  all  milk  cows)  in  number. 


56  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Many  of  them  have  been  excellent  milkers,  and  some  of  them 
extraordinary,  for  their  size.  We  once  had  two  three  year  old 
heifers,  with  their  first  calves,  which  gave  for  some  three  months 
after  calving,  on  pasture  only,  with  steady  milking,  an  average 
of  eighteen  quarts  per  day;  and  from  cows  which  we  have  at 
different  times  sold  to  go  to  other  States,  the  accounts  of  their 
milk  have  been  equally  good.  It  is  but  fair  to  say  however, 
that  after  we  commenced  crossing  our  cows  with  bulls  of  later 
importations,  some  fifteen  years  after  the  commencement  of  the 
herd,  the  large  milkers  were  not  so  numerous,  although  the  cattle 
from  these  crosses  were  somewhat  finer.  The  bulls  we  used 
were  apparently  bred  from  stocks  highly  improved,  with  an 
effort  more  to  develop  their  feeding  properties,  than  for  the 
dairy.  After  all,  our  Devons  yielded,  on  an  average,  quite  as 
much  as  any  common  cows  we  ever  kept,  with  much  less  con- 
sumption of  forage. 

With  all  her  alleged  deficiencies,  the  Devon  possesses  the 
inherent  qualities  of  a  good  milker.  Her  dairy  faculties  may  be 
bred  out  of  her  by  neglect  of  that  important  item,  and  with  a 
view  to  give  her  an  earlier  maturity,  and  more  weight  of  flesh; 
but  even  under  that  system,  she  will  occasionally  persist,  as  we 
have  known  in  various  instances,  in  giving  a  large  flow  of  milk, 
exceeding  many  common  cows  of  equal  size.  On  the  whole, 
from  the  accumulated  accounts  we  have  received  from  time  to 
time,  coupled  with  our  own  experience,  we  pronounce  the 
Devous,  as  a  race,  when  bred  with  an  eye  to  the  development  of  the 
dairy  quality,  considering  their  size,  and  consumption  of  food, 
good  dairy  cows,  both  in  the  quantity  of  milk  they  give,  and 
the  butter  it  yields. 

AS   A    WORKING    OX. 

In  this  valuable  quality,  no  animal  of  the  same  size  and  weight 
equals  the  Devon — for  the  following  reasons :  They  are,  among 
cattle,  what  the  "thorough  bred"  is  among  horses.  According 


THE    DEVOXS.  57 

to  their  size,  they  combine  more  fineness  of  bone,  more  muscular 
power,  more  intelligence,  activity,  and  "bottom,"  than  any  other 
breed.  They  have  the  slanting  shoulder  of  the  horse,  better 
fitted  to  receive  the  yoke,  and  carry  it  easier  to  themselves  than 
any  others,  except  the  Herefords. 

"With  all  workers  of  oxen,  the  nearer  a  beast  approaches  in 
shape,  appearance,  and  action  to  the  Devon,  the  more  valuable 
he  is  considered,  according  to  weight.  For  ordinary  farm  labor, 
either  at  the  plow,  the  wagon,  or  the  cart,  he  is  equal  to  all 
common  duties,  and  on  the  road  his  speed  and  endurance  is 
unrivalled.  It  is  in  these  qualities  that  the  New  England  oxen 
excel  others  of  the  country  generally,  and  why  the  people  of 
that  section  often  call  their  red  oxen  "Devonshires,"  when  they 
cannot,  to  a  certainty,  trace  any,  or  but  a  small  portion  of  that 
blood  in  them,  only  by  a  general  appearance  and  somewhat 
like  action. 

For  active,  handy  labor  on  the  farm,  or  highway,  under  the 
careful  hand  of  one  who  likes  and  properly  tends  him,  the 
Devon  is  every  thing  that  is  required  of  an  ox,  in  docility,  intel- 
ligence, and  readiness,  for  any  reasonable  task  demanded  of  him. 
Their  uniformity  in  style,  shape,  and  color,  render  them  easily 
matched,  and  their  activity  in  movement,  particularly  on  rough 
and  hilly  grounds,  give  them,  for  farm  labor,  almost  equal  value 
to  the  horse,  with  easier  keep,  cheaper  food,  and  less  care.  The 
presence  of  a  well  conditioned  yoke  of  Devon  cattle  in  the 
market  place  at  once  attests  their  value,  and  twenty -five  to  fifty 
dollars,  and  even  more  price  over  others  of  the  common  stock 
are  freely  given  by  the  purchaser. 

The  Devon,  in  his  lack  of  great  size,  is  not  so  strong  a  draught 
ox  as  some  of  the  other  breeds — the  Herefords,  for  instance — or 
perhaps  some  of  the  larger  of  the  common  cattle;  but,  "for  his 
inches,"  no  horned  beast  can  outwork  him.  On  light  soils,  and 
on  hilly  roads,  none  other  equals  him,  although  we  intend  to  give 
3* 


58  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

all  their  due  share  of  merit.  Oar  cut  is  that  of  a  prize  stall-fed 
steer,  at  four  years  old.  It  shows  his  flesh-taking  qualities  in 
high  perfection. 


Plate  4.    Devon  Ox. 
AS    A    BEEF    ANIMAL, 

"We  must  place  the  Devon  in  the  first  class,  for  fineness  of  flesh 
and  delicacy  of  flavor.  Its  compact  bone  gives  it  the  one,  and 
its  rapid  and  thorough  development  under  good  feeding  gives  it 
the  other.  In  growth  and  size  it  matures  early,  equal  to 
the  short-horn,  and  its  meat  is  finer  grained,  juicy,  and  nicely 
marbled,  (the  lean  and  fat  intermixed.)  In  the  London  markets, 
Devon  beef  bears  the  highest  price  of  any,  except  the  Highland 
Scot — usually  a  penny  a  pound  over  that  of  larger  breeds, 
and  our  American  butchers  quickly  pick  the  Devons  from  a 
drove,  when  they  can  find  them,  before  most  others.  They  feed 
well,  take  on  flesh  rapidly,  and  in  the  quality  of  their  flesh,  are 
all  that  can  be  desired. 

The  following  weights  of  Devons  from  the  London,  Smith- 
field  markets,  are  given : 


THK    DF.VOXS.  59 

One  5  years  11  months  old,  dead  net  weight,  1,593  Ibs.;  one 
3  years  7  months  old,  dead  net  weight,  (rough  tallow  160  Ibs.) 
1,316  Ibs.;  one  3  years  10  months  old,  dead  net  weight,  (rough 
tallow  128  Ibs.)  904  Ibs.  The  Earl  of  Leicester's  steers,  at  four 
years  old,  on  his  Holkham  estates,  gave  dead  net  weights  of 
1,000,  1,200,  and  even  1,400  Ibs.  Those  of  the  Duke  of  Nor- 
folk, near  Bury,  in  Suffolk,  made  900  to  1,000  pounds  each. 
These  were  all  highly  fed,  and  possibly,  some  of  them,  prize  beef. 

A  3  years  10  months  old  steer,  in  Genesee  County,  N.  Y., 
gave,  dead  net  weight,  1,200  Ibs. — hide  and  rough  tallow  in- 
cluded— the  latter  being  over  100  Ibs.  The  late  Mr.  Lemuel 
Hurlburt,  of  Winchester,  Connecticut,  fed  a  pair  three-fourths 
Devon  cattle,  having  worked  them  till  six  years  old,  and  fed 
them  15  months  afterwards.  Their  weights  were  as  follows : 

No.  1— Carcass,    .         .         .     1,438  Ibs. 
Hide,     .        .         .  117  Ibs. 

Tallow,     ...        175  Ibs.— 1,730  Ibs. 

No.  2— Carcass,    .         .         .     1,528  Ibs. 
Hide,    .         .         .  115  Ibs. 

Tallow,     .         .         .        213  Ibs.— 1,856  Ibs. 

We  have  had  slaughtered  many  of  our  own  grass  fed  steers, 
three-fourths,  to  seven-eighths,  arid  thorough  bred  Devon,  at  3% 
years,  which  made  700  to  850  Ibs.  net  weight  of  beef,  hide,  and 
tallow,  and  never  fed  anything  but  grass  and  hay,  from  calves. 

After  all  we  have  said  of  the  Devon — and  our  praise  is  not 
too  high — popular  opinion  in  America  has,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  classed  him  as  too  small  in  size  for  the  most  profitable 
uses — "They  haven't  growth  enough."  But  for  their  apparent 
size,  and  actual  measurement,  no  animal  of  his  race,  not  even  a 
short-horn,  will  weigh  a  heavier  carcass  of  the  best  meat,  laid 
on  in  the  choicest  parts.  With  some,  his  want  of  size  is  an 
available  objection,  with  others  not.  In  the  Southern  States 
the  Devon  is  often  preferred  to  any  other  breed.  They  gather 


60  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

their  food  with  more  ease,  they  bear  the  climate  well,  are  more 
free  from  diseases  than  many  others.  On  our  high  lands  and 
mountain  ranges,  with  short  grasses,  sometimes  not  easy  of 
access  to  heavier  cattle,  they  must  prove  profitable  graziers,  and 
as  a  beef  producing  animal  will  answer  a  valuable  purpose  where 
others  would  fail. 

DEVONS    IN    THE    UNITED    STATES. 

It  is  a  subject  of  regret  that  our  accounts  of  the  earlier  intro- 
duction of  these  cattle  to  this  country  are  so  meager.  There  is 
little  doubt,  from  the  appearance  of  many  of  the  New  England 
cattle  in  the  last  and  present  centuries,  that  some  Devons,  in 
their  purity,  were  early  brought  into  Massachusetts.  Traditional 
tales  of  their  neat  limbed,  sprightly,  red,  high-horned  cattle,  have 
existed,  and  that  they  sprung  from  a  Devon  cross  is  beyond  a 
question.  But  we  have  no  particular  published  records  of  these 
importations  until  the  year  1817,  when  Messrs.  Caton  &  Pat- 
terson, merchants  of  Baltimore,  Maryland,  received  several  of 
them  from  "Mr.  Coke,  of  Holkham." 

These,  a  few  years  afterwards,  fell  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Geo. 
Patterson,  (already  noticed,)  son  of  one  of  the  importing  partners, 
who  retains  their  descendants  to  the  present  time.  This  stock 
has  been  largely  multiplied,  and  spread  through  various  parts  of 
the  country. 

A  year  later — 1818 — Rufus  King,  the  distinguished  statesman, 
of  Jamaica,  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  imported  a  few  animals  from 
Mr.  Coke's  herd. 

Not  long  after  the  Caton  &  Patterson  stock  came  over,  Mr. 
Henry  Thompson  made  an  importation  of  a  few  Devons  into 
Baltimore.  There  may  have  been  some  few  other  importations 
into  Boston,  or  other  ports,  about  the  same  time,  or  a  little  later 
than  these,  but  we  have  no  particular  accounts  of  them. 

About  the  year  1835-G,  an  English  farmer  named  Vernon, 


THE    DEVOXS.  61 

brought  a  bull  and  cow  into  Genesee  County,  N.  Y.,  from  the 
herd  of  Mr.  Davy,  in  England. 

In  184—  the  Massachusetts  Agricultural  Society  made  a  con- 
siderable importation  of  Devons  into  that  State,  which  were 
some  time  afterwards  distributed  in  various  parts  of  New 
England. 

About  the  years  1852-3,  Mr.  L.  G.  Morris,  of  Westchester, 
N.  Y.,  imported  several  Devons  from  the  herds  of  Mr.  Quartly, 
and  others,  in  Devonshire. 

About  the  same  years,  Mr.  Ambrose  Stevens,  of  Batavia,  N. 
Y.,  brought  out  a  number  from  the  herds  of  Messrs.  Davy, 
Merson,  and  others. 

Concurrent  with  these  two  last,  Mr.  C.  S.  Wainright,  of 
Rhinebeck,  N.  Y.,  made  two  or  three  different  importations 
from  the  best  and  most  popular  breeds  abroad. 

A  few  years  later,  the  late  Mr.  Edward  G.  Faile,  of  West- 
chester,  N.  Y.,  imported  several  superior  Devons  from  the  choice 
herds  of  Devonshire. 

These  comprise  all  that  we  now  recollect,  and  were  of  the 
choicest  selections — the  cattle  equal,  probably,  in  style  and 
quality,  to  any  in  England.  All  these  herds  have  been  carefully 
bred,  and  their  produce  widely  disseminated.  If  preserved  and 
bred  as  they  should  be,  they  will  -continue  of  great  benefit  in 
improving  the  lighter  cattle  stocks  of  our  country. 

It  may  be  well  to  remark  that  the  race  of  which  we  have 
written,  are  called,  in  England,  "North"  Devons,  as  distinguish- 
ing them  from  another  called  "South"  Devons — a  somewhat 
larger,  coarser,  and  less  esteemed  variety,  existing  in  South  Dev- 
onshire, and  the  adjoining  county  of  Sussex. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE    HKREFORDS. 

AFTER  giving  so  extended  a  chapter  on  the  Devons — which  we 
have  partially  done  for  convenient  reference  in  remarking  on 
some  other  breeds,  to  save  frequent  repetition — it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  describe  the  Herefords  so  minutely.  Although 
comparatively  little  known  in  this  country,  they  are  a  valuable 
breed,  and  their  origin  dates  far  back  in  the  history  of  English 
cattle.  The  principal  counties  in  England  in  which  they  are 
kept,  are  Hereford,  Shropshire,  Gloucester,  and  Oxford,  and  some 
counties  adjoining  Hereford,  in  Wales.  They  are  also  found  in 
other  counties,  but  those  named  are  their  principal  homes. 

Ever  since  breeds  of  cattle  have  been  discussed,  in  modern 
days,  the  Hereford  has  been  named  as  of  ancient  descent.  To 
what  extent,  concurrent  with  other  breeds,  they  have  been 
improved,  it  is  not  easy  to  say ;  but  that  they  have  received 
great  attention  within  a  century  past,  and  no  doubt  been  much 
improved,  is  certain,  as  we  learn  by  English  authorities.  The 
Herefords  of  a  hundred  years  ago,  were  deep  red — almost  brown 
— in  color,  with  mottled  faces ;  now,  they  are  usually  red,  with 
shades  sometimes  running  into  light,  or  yellowish  red,  with 
white  faces,  throats,  bellies,  and  sometimes  backs,  and  occasion- 
ally a  roan  of  red  and  white  mixed,  and  more  rarely,  an  almost 
clear  white,  with  red  ears,  is  found  among  them. 

From  a  "lecture"  delivered  by  Mr.  T.  Duckham,  on  Hereford 
cattle,  in  the  Royal  Agricultural  College,  at  Cirencester,  Eng., 
we  extract  the  following  : 


THE    HEBEFORDS.  63 

"Mr.  Rowlandson,  in  his  prize  report  on  the  'Farming  of 
Herefordshire,'  published  in  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Agricul- 
tural Society  of  England,  Vol.  32,  says,  'the  Herefords  were 
originally  brown,  or  reddish-brown.'  He  also  relates  the  fol- 
lowing story  of  the  appearance  of  a  white-faced  bull  in  the 
herd  of  Mr.  Tully,  Huntington,  near  Hereford:  'About  the 
middle  of  the  last  century,  (1750,)  the  cow-man  came  to  the 
house,  announcing  as  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  favorite  cow 
had  produced  a  white-faced  bull  calf.  This  had  never  been 
known  to  have  occurred  before,  and  as  a  curiosity,  it  was  agreed 
that  the  animal  should  be  kept  and  reared  as  a  future  sire; '  and 
adds,  '  that  the  progeny  of  this  very  bull  became  celebrated  for 
white  faces.' " 

"The  same  authority  (Mr.  Rowlandson)  gives  an  interesting 
extract  from  history,  showing  that  in  the  tenth  century,  (A.  D. 
900,)  a  celebrated  breed  of  white  cattle,  with  red  ears,  prevailed 
in  Wales,  of  which  that  part  of  the  county  of  Hereford  on  the 
north  side  of  the  river  Wye  formed  a  portion.  He  tells  us  that 
a  law  of  '  Howell  the  Good '  fixed  compensation  to  be  paid  for 
injuries  done  by  one  of  the  princes  towards  another,  at  one 
hundred  white  cows,  with  red  ears,  and  a  bull  of  the  same 
color;  and  if  the  cattle  were  of  a  dark  or  black  color,  then  one 
hundred  and  fifty  in  number  instead  of  a  hundred,  and  adds : 
'Speed  records,  that  Maude  de  Breho?,  in  order  to  appease  King 
John,  who  was  highly  incensed  against  her  husband,  made  a 
present  to  the  Queen,  of  four  hundred  cows  and  one  bull  from 
Brecknockshire,  (in  Wales,)  all  white,  with  red  ears.'  These 
facts,  he  says,  'are  suggestive  of  the  mode  in  which  the  white- 
faces  have  originated.' " 

This  last  transaction  must  have  taken  place  soon  after  the 
year  A.  D.  1200,  for  John  held  the  throne  only  seventeen  years, 
having  taken  it  in  1199,  and  dying  in  1216 — a  long  time  for  a 
white  color  in  cattle  to  be  held  in  abeyance,  and  then  to  crop  out 


G4  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

five  hundred  years  afterwards!  This  may  all  be  possible,  and 
the  Hereford  breed  of  cattle,  if  original  in  Wales,  may  have 
existed  time  immemorial,  for,  as  they  say  that  certain  Welsh 
families  trace  their  pedigrees  back  anterior  to  Adam,  we  may 
.  give  a  pretty  remote  date  to  the  origin  of  their  cattle ! 

Mr.  Duckham  farther  remarks:  "An  old  and  much  respected 
friend  of  mine,  the  late  Mr.  Welles,  also  entertained  the  idea 
that  they  were  originally  self-colored  (red)  like  the  Devons,  and 
'that  the  breed  characterized  as  the  mottle-faced,  took  its  origin 
from  a  mixture  of  the  old  self-colored,  with  some  accidentally 
possessing  white  marks.'  As  regards  the  white  cows  with  red 
ears,  I  think  the  light  grey,  or  white  Hereford,  may  fairly  be 
considered  to  be  descended  from  them;  and  there  are  red-with- 
white-face  breeders,  who  advance  that  they  can  trace  them  as 
being  the  breed  of  their  ancestors,  for  the  past  two  hundred  years." 

Be  all  these  facts,  traditions,  or  surmises,  as  they  may,  these 
grey  and  white  colors  now  appear  in  cattle  bearing  all  other 
marks  of  true  Herefords,  and  they  must  be  admitted  as  indi- 
geneous  to  the  breed.  Some  of  the  very  best  specimens  of  the 
race  have  been  of  those  lighter  and  mixed  colors. 

In  our  researches  among  English  authorities,  we  find  less  said 
of  the  Hereford,  its  history,  and  breeding,  than  almost  any  other 
well  known  breed.  Youatt  devotes  but  four  pages  to  them, 
knowing  little  of  them  himself,  and  having  not  much  information 
from  others.  What  we  have  gleaned  from  English  accounts,  is 
chiefly  in  fugitive  papers  and  magazines,  by  sundry  writers  and 
breeders;  but  more  fortunately  for  the  present  purpose,  we  have 
had  several  years'  close  and  almost  daily  observation,  in  a  herd 
of  imported  Herefords  and  their  descendants,  which  were  kppt 
near  us,  as  well  as  of  occasional  observation  of  other  importa- 
tions, which  have  given  us  a  more  intimate  knowledge  of  them 
than  volumes  of  books,  without  such  personal  observation,  could 
have  clone. 


THE    HEREFORDS. 


G5 


Perhaps  we  cannot  convey  a  better  description  of  the  Here- 
ford, after  giving  accurate  portraits  of  the  sexes,  than  to  say : 
give  a  Devon  a  quarter  more  size,  somewhat  more  proportionate 
bone  and  horn,  a  trifle  shorter  leg,  and  longer  body,  a  little 
coarser  in  every  part,  and  you  have  a  good  Hereford,  in  all 
excepting  color. 


Plate  5.    Hereford  Bull. 

Our  plate  is  an  accurate  copy  of  one  in  the  (English)  Farmers' 
Magazine,  true  to  life,  and  amply  just  to  the  original,  both  in 
color,  and  proportion.  "We  have  seen  one  that  might  have  stood 
equally  well  for  the  portrait. 

As  useful  cattle,  the  Herefords  are  a  good  breed.  "We  are 
aware  that  their  introduction  into  the  United  States  has  not 
been,  in  comparison  with  some  other  breeds,  successful  in  popu- 
larity or  extended  distribution ;  but  that  fact  decides  nothing  as 
to  the  positive  .merits  of  the  stock  itself.  Partiality,  prejudice 
on  the  part  of  our  cattle  breeders,  or  pre-occupation  of  the 
ground  by  other  breeds  which  meet  the  general  approbation, 


66  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

may  keep  them  for  a  time  in  the  back-ground;  but  their  actual 
merits  once  known,  they  may  have  a  fair  trial,  and  achieve  a 
substantial  success. 

Like  the  Devon,  we  place  the  Hereford  under  three  distinct 
heads;  and  first, 

AS    A    DAIRY    COW. 

In  this  virtue  she  has  little  reputation,  either  in  England  or 
America.  We  have  found  no  English  authority,  except  a  rare 
instance  or  two,  which  gives  her  much  credit  as  a  milker.  Pos- 
sibly this  may  have  arisen  from  the  fact  that  the  Hereford  dis- 
tricts are  grazing,  and  not  dairy.  The  milk  is  rich,  but  too  little 
of  it — not  much  more  than  to  rear  her  calf  in  good  condition. 
She  dries  early. 


Plate  6.    Hereford  Cow. 

If  she  ever  was  a  milker  before  her  modern  improvement 
began,  the  milking  faculty  has  been  sacrificed  for  a  ready  tend- 
ency to  flesh,  which  has  been  obtained  in  a  high  degree  in  her 
race.  We  have  seen  a  dozen  of  them  milked  through  three  or 


THE    HEREFORDS.  G< 

four  successive  seasons,  and  the  yields  were  such  as  would  be 
unsatisfactory  to  a  modern  dairyman.  Now  and  then  a  fair 
milker  turned  up,  but  they  were  in  a  minority  of  numbers; 
taken  together  they  were  less  than  ordinary,  for  the  season. 
We  will  not  therefore  discuss  this  question  further,  but  pass  to 
another  quality  as  yielding  greater  pleasure  in  the  relation. 

AS    A    WORKING    OX, 

The  Hereford  is  the  peer  of  any  other,  and  superior  to  most. 
Large,  strong,  muscular,  well  developed  in  form,  noble,  and 
stately  in  carriage,  he  suggests  all  that  need  be  found  in  an 
honest,  true  worker.  At  full  maturity — say  six  years  old — he 
girts  7  to  7K  feet  behind  the  shoulders,  in  ordinary  condition, 
to  the  Devon's  6  to  6)4  feet,  and  is  every  way  the  more  power- 
ful, if  not  quite  so  quick,  or  active.  A  team  of  two,  three,  or 
four  yokes  of  Herefords,  under  the  control  of  a  good  driver,  for 
"a  long  pull,  a  strong  pull,  and  a  pull  altogether,"  is  the  perfec- 
tion of  bovine  strength  and  majesty.  The  joints  of  the  ox  are 
well  knit,  his  sinews  strong,  his  shoulders  slant  well  to  the  yoke, 
and  he  carries  his  load  well,  be  it  at  the  plow,  the  cart,  or  the 
wagon.  He  is  kindly,  intelligent,  honest  in  his  labor.  We  have 
seen  them  from  half,  to  three-quarters  blood,  crossed  from  the 
common  cow,  and  up  to  thorough  bred,  all  of  great  excellence  as 
draught  beasts,  well  matched,  and  admirable  in  all  their  points. 
The  Hereford  blood  is  strong  in  marking  its  descent.  From  the 
bulls  which  were  kept  in  our  neighborhood  eighteen  years  ago, 
crossed  upon  cows  which  run  on  the  adjacent  commons,  in  their 
summer  pasturage,  we  now,  in  their  progeny,  to  later  genera- 
tions, frequently  see  cows  and  oxen  but  a  quarter,  an  eighth,  or 
sixteenth  in  blood — got  by  scrub  bulls — that  show  strong  Here- 
ford marks  in  form  and  color. 

We  once  reared  an  ox  got  by  a  Hereford  bull,  on  a  wretched 
little  black  cow,  which  proved  to  be  a  fine,  stately  ox,  of  a 


B8  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

brindle  (black  and  red  mixed)  color,  and  a  better  worker  we 
never  knew.  At  eight  years  old  we  fed  him  off  on  grass,  and 
a  little  corn  meal  only,  and  he  gave  us  1,200  pounds  of  beef, 
hide  and  tallow.  Where  hay  and  pasturage  are  cheap,  and  the 
farmer  has  a  taste  for  the  business,  it  must  be  a  profitable  invest- 
ment to  obtain  a  thorough  bred  Hereford  bull,  cross  him  on  well 
selected  native  red  cows,  and  rear  and  break  steers  for  the 
markets  where  good  working  oxen  are  in  demand.  The  strong 
blood  of  the  bull  will  give  uniformity  in  shape,  and  color,  so 
that  the  steers  may  be  easily  matched,  and  if  not  wanted  for  the 
yoke,  they  are  equally  valuable,  as  other  cattle,'  for  feeding,  and 
the  shambles. 


Plate  7.    Hereford  Ox. 
AS    A    BEEF    ANIMAL, 

The  Hereford  is  superior.  They  feed  kindly,  are  thrifty  in 
growth,  mature  early — at  three  and  four  years  old — and  prove 
well  on  the  butchers'  block.  We  are  aware  that  they  have  not 
now  a  general  popularity  in  the  great  cattle  breeding  regions  of 


TUE    HEKEFORDS.  by 

our  Western  States.  Few  of  them  have  been  introduced  there, 
and  those,  perhaps,  not  in  the  right  hands  to  push  them  to  the 
best  advantage.  We  could  wish  for  them  a  fairer  trial;  but  the 
prejudice  against  the  cows  as  milkers,  and  the  lack  in  their 
taking  appearance  as  a  highly  distinctive  race,  in  comparison 
with  the  more  popular  short-horns,  have  kept  them  back  in 
public  demand.  Their  time  has  not  yet  come;  and  it  may  be, 
that  in  the  right  hands,  and  with  a  more  critical  observation 
among  our  cattle  breeders  and  graziers,  they  may  achieve  a 
reputation  as  a  grazing  beast,  equal  to  some  now  considered 
their  superiors. 

In  their  native  counties  in  England,  they  still  hold  a  high  rank, 
and  at  the  prize  shows  in  the  London  markets  compete  success- 
fully with  other  improved  breeds.  With  all  the  deficiencies  which 
the  advocates  of  other  breeds  allege  against  them,  the  Herefords 
still  retain  their  reputation  among  their  English  breeders,  who 
hold  on  to  them  with  a  pertinacity  which  shows  an  unabated  con- 
fidence in  their  merits  and  profit  as  a  true  grazier's  beast.  We 
might  show  recorded  tables  of  their  trials,  in  England,  with 
short-horns,  and  the  relative  profits  of  their  feeding  for  market, 
in  which  the  Herefords  gained  an  advantage  on  the  score  of 
economy;  but  as  the  trials  were  not  from  birth  to  slaughter, 
and  the  comparative  early  advantages  of  each  breed  were 
omitted  in  the  account,  a  repetition  of  the  tables  here  would 
not  be  conclusive. 

There  has  been  much  controversy  in  England,  and  there  might 
be  some  in  America,  were  there  Herefords  enough  here  to  raise 
the  question,  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they  have  been  improved 
within  the  last  eighty  or  ninety  years.  Their  opponents  allege 
that  they  have  had  a  stealthy  short-horn  cross,  and  it  is  not  cer- 
tain that  in  these  controversies  the  Hereford  breeders  have 
always  denied  it.  All  the  accounts  that  we  have  seen,  show 
that  the  old  Herefords  were  dark  red,  almost  brown  in  color, 


70  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

with  mottled  red  and  white  faces,  and  little  or  no  white  on 
the  throat,  belly,  or  back.  The  improved  Herefords  are  of 
lighter  red,  with  white  faces  usually,  (although  we  have  seen 
some  of  the  old  style  of  color,)  and  occasionally  one  will  "crop 
out"  with  a  lively  short-horn  roan  all  over.  We  once  saw  a 
purely  white  one  in  color,  with  no  red,  except  the  ears,  her 
parents,  bull  and  cow,  being  red,  with  white  faces;  and  another, 
an  imported  cow,  with  drooping,  half-length  horns.  These  are 
certainly  out  of  line  with  the  true  Herefords,  and  the  short-horn 
advocates  charge  that  such  offshoots  betray  short-horn  blood. 
Be  the  facts  of  their  breeding  as  they  may,  the  differences  in 
color  and  horn,  are  palpable.  That  these  appearances  have  not 
injured  the  animals  themselves,  is  evident,  for  they  were  admira- 
ble Herefords  in  all  their  valuable  points,  as  any  among  their 
congeners  of  the  true  colors,  and  upright  spread  of  horns.  "We, 
at  least,  shall  not  take  sides  in  the  controversy.  It  is  sufficient 
to  note  the  facts  as  we  have  seen  them. 

THE  HEREFORDS  IN  AMKRICA. 

At  what  date  they  were  first  imported  into  this  country,  we 
have  no  accurate  account;  but  that  some  Herefords  came  out 
among  the  early  importations,  is  evident,  from  the  occasional 
marks  of  the  breed  among  our  native  cattle  where  late  importa- 
tions have  not  been  known.  In  the  year  1816  or  '17  the  great 
Kentucky  statesman,  Henry  Clay,  imported  two  pairs  of  them 
into  his  State,  and  put  them  on  his  farm  at  Ashland.  They 
were  bred  for  a  time  with  each  other,  and  the  bulls  were  crossed 
with  other  cows;  but  it  is  certain  that  they  left  no  permanent 
impress  on  the  herds  of  that  vicinity,  as  Mr.  Clay  himself 
became  a  breeder  of  short-horns  soon  afterwards,  and  eventually 
discarded  the  blood  from  his  herds,  if  he  had  for  any  length 
of  time  retained  it.  No  trace  of  them  is  now  seen  in  Kentucky. 
A  few  years  later,  Admiral  Sir  Isaac  Coffin,  of  the  English 


THE    HEREFORDS.  71 

Navy,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  sent  out  a  Hereford  bull,  and 
possibly  a  cow  or  two,  to  some  of  his  friends  in  that  State. 
The  bull  was  considerably  used  in  crossing  with  the  native  cows, 
and  thirty  years  ago  or  more,  we  saw  several  fine  bullocks  with 
strong  marks  of  the  breed,  in  the  vicinity  where  he  was  kept. 
There  may  have  been  small  importations  made  into  other  States 
during  the  next  fifteen  years,  but  of  them  we  have  no  definite 
knowledge. 

The  largest  known  importation  of  Herefords  into  the  United 
States,  was  made  about  the  year  1840,  upwards  of  twenty  in 
number,  by  an  Englishman,  into  the  city  of  New  York,  and 
taken  into  Jefferson  county,  of  that  State.  A  year  or  two 
afterwards  the  bulk  of  the  herd  were  removed  to  the  farm  of 
Mr.  Erastus  Corning,  near  Albany,  N.  Y.,  and  some  of  them 
went  into  Vermont,  where  they  were  for  some  years  bred,  sold, 
and  scattered.  Of  this  herd,  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  editor  of  the 
American  Agriculturist  in  1843,  thus  speaks:  u  We  had  seen 
some  specimens  when  in  England,  in  1840,  but  had  no  idea  of 
the  fine  herd  at  Albany  until  we  saw  them  last  December.  We 
were  surprised  at  the  superb  show  the  Herefords  made  at  the 
various  Agricultural  Society  meetings  we  attended  in  England, 
and  certainly  one  of  the  finest  lots  of  cattle  we  ever  saw,  was 
a  large  herd  of  pure  Hereford  steers,  grazing  on  the  banks  of 
the  Thames,  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  grand  old  town  of 
Oxford.  As  fat  cattle,  the  Herefords  have  lately  held  a  sharp 
rivalry  with  the  short-horns,  and  their  beef  is  in  high  favor  in 
the  London  markets.  They  make  no  claim,  as  yet,  to  being 
milkers.  *  *  *  *  We  think  the  stock  at  Albany  would 
compare  favorably  with  the  best  we  met  of  this  breed  in  Eng- 
land. *  *  *  *  We  found  these  cattle  to  excel  particularly 
in  the  brisket,  and  loin,  two  very  important  points  in  all  animals 
destined  for  the  butcher,  and  especially  necessary,  if  we  make 


72  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

them  into  beef  for  the  English  market ;  and  being  of  great  con- 
stitution and  hardy,  they  make  most  excellent  grazing  cattle." 

While  the  stock  were  at  his  farm,  Mr.  Corning,  with  his  accus- 
tomed liberality  and  enterprise,  sent  their  importer  out  again 
to  England  to  purchase  more  animals,  which  safely  arrived,  and 
were  add*ed  to  the  herd.  They  were  then  successfully  bred  for 
several  years,  many  sales  made  into  different  and  distant  parts 
of  the  United  States,  and  they  acquired  considerable  popularity. 
The  herd  was  subsequently  divided,  Mr.  Corning  retaining  his 
•ehare,  and  his  partner  taking  his,  some  twenty  or  more  in  num- 
ber, on  to  a  farm  three  or  four  miles  from  Buffalo,  on  the  banks 
of  the  Niagara.  Here  they  were  bred,  and  several  sales  made, 
to  go  to  different  parts  of  the  country,  during  the  four  or  five 
years  they  remained;  but  the  herd  gradually  waned,  mainly  from 
want  of  proper  care  and  system  in  their  keeping.  "With  their 
owner  they  then  migrated  into  the  rich  valley  of  the  Genesee. 
near  G-eneseo.  In  that  locality,  if  anywhere,  they  ought  to 
have  succeeded.  But  in  two  or  three  years  further  they  went 
to  Tioga  county,  near  Owego,  where  they  had  another  fitful  stay 
of  a  year  or  two,  and  then  removed  elsewhere,  since  which  we 
have  no  record  of  them  whatever, — "run  out,"  and  sacrificed, 
in  all  probability,  by  mismanagement. 

Mr.  Corning  retained  his  herd  at  his  farm,  where  he  has  suc- 
cessfully bred,  and  made  sales  from  them  since,  and  in  the  hands 
of  his  son,  Mr.  E.  Corning,  Jr.,  who  is  more  an  amateur  than  a 
professed  cattle  breeder,  added  to  by  occasional  importations  from 
England,  they  remain  fine  specimens  of  their  race. 

Mr.  George  Clark,  at  Springfield,  Otsego  county,  N.  Y., 
obtained  several  Herefords  from  this  herd,  and,  we  believe,  made 
an  importation  or  two  from  England.  He  bred  them  success- 
fully, distributed  his  bulls  on  to  several  of  his  farms,  and  bred, 
and  still  breeds  many  excellent  grade  Herefords  from  the  com- 


THE    UEREFORDS.  73 

moil  cows.  His  bullocks  have,  in  past  years,  been  highly 
approved  in  the  New  York  Cattle  Markets. 

About  the  year.  1852-3,  Messrs.  Thomas  Aston,  and  John 
Humphries,  two  English  farmers  in  Elyria,  Ohio,  near  Lake 
Erie,  imported  several  fine  Herefords.  They  bred  them  well, 
and  successfully,  as  seen  in  the  specimens  we  have  several  times 
met,  but  with  wliat  success  in  their  sales  we  have  no  intimate 
knowledge. 

In  the  years  1860  and  '61,  Mr.  Frederick  Wm.  Stone,  of 
Guelph,  Canada  West,  made  two  importations  of  superior  Here- 
fords  from  the  herds  of  Lord  Bateman,  in  Herefordshire,  and  the 
late  Lord  Berwick,  in  the  adjoining  county  of  Shropshire,  Eng- 
land, numbering,  together,  two  bulls,  and  eleven  cows  and  heifers. 
These  were  remarkable  for  their  high  breeding,  and  generally, 
good  points.  From  them,  down  to  January,  1867,  there  were 
bred  about  sixty,  and  about  half  the  number  have  been  sold  at 
satisfactory  prices,  and  distributed,  mostly  into  the  United  States. 
Some  of  the  cows  have  proved  excellent  milkers,  and  all, 
together  with  the  crosses  of  the  bulls  on  common  cows,  have 
proved  profitable  grazing  animals.  But  as  they  have  had  to 
encounter  a  sharp  competition  in  Canada,  where  the  short-horns 
have  for  some  years,  previous  to  the  introduction  of  the  Here- 
fords,  held  dominion,  as  improved  stock,  and  Mr.  Stone  himself 
a  prominent  short-horn  breeder,  the  qualities  of  the  Herefords 
have  won  their  success,  against  such  odds,  solely  by  their  own 
merits.  Such  a  fact  is  no  small  testimonial  to  their  excellence. 

There  have,  we  believe,  been  some  few  other  small  importa- 
tions of  Herefords  made  within  the  past  twenty  years,  but  we 
have  no  particular  account  of  them,  or  at  what  ports  they  were 
landed. 

Qn  the  whole,  the  Herefords  have  not  had  a  fair  trial  in  the 
United  States,  in  the  hands  of  veteran  cattle  breeders,  who  had 
the  means  and  opportunity  to  properly  test  them  by  a  thorough 
4 


74  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

and  persistent  course  of  breeding.  Had  the  fine  herd  which 
was  for  several  years  on  Mr.  Coming's  farm,  been  taken  to  good 
grazing  lands  in  New  York,  or  some  of  the  Western  States,  and 
properly  cared  for,  their  history,  we  fancy,  would  have  been  far 
different  from  that  which  is  here  recorded. 

We  trust  that  the  herd  of  Mr.  Stone,  in  its  various  distribu- 
tions, may  have  a  fair  and  thorough  trial,  satisfied  as  we  are 
that  the  Herefords,  as  a  breed,  have  positive,  and  well  estab- 
lished merits,  in  their  great  thrift,  and  good  flesh  producing 
qualities. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    LONG-HORNS. 

IT  is  still  a  disputed  question  in  England,  whether  this  some- 
what remarkable  race  of  cattle  originated  in  the  north-western 
English  counties  of  Lancashire,  Westmoreland,  and  the  adjoin- 
ing part  of  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  or  in  Ireland,  as 
from  time  immemorial  they  appear  to  have  been  natives  of  both 
countries,  and  probably  were  intermixed,  more  or  less,  by 
importations  from  one  to  the  other.  The  characteristics  of  the 
cattle  of  each  country  are  so  identical,  that  they  arc  acknowl- 
edged to  be  of  the  same  primitive  race,  although  it  is  contended 
by  English  authorities  that  the  Irish  long-horns  were  coarser 
and  less  cultivated  in  their  breeding  than  the  English. 

Youatt  says :  "In  the  district  of  Craven,  a  fertile  corner  of  the 
West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  bordering  on  Lancashire,  and  sepa- 
rated from  Westmoreland  chiefly  by  the  western  moorlands, 
there  has  been,  from  the  earliest  records  of  British  Agriculture, 
a  peculiar  breed  of  cattle.  They  were  distinguished  from  the 
home-breds  of  other  counties  by  a  disproportionate  and  frequently 
unbecoming  length  of  horn.  In  the  old  breed  this  horn  frequently 
projected  nearly  horizontal  on  either  side,  but  as  the  cattle  were 
improved,  the  horn  assumed  other  directions;  it  hung  down  so 
that  the  animal  could  scarcely  graze,  or  it  curved  so  as  to  threaten 
to  meet  before  the  muzzle,  and  so  also  to  prevent  the  beast  from 
grazing;  or  immediately  under  the  jaw,  and  so  to  lock  the  lower 
jaw;  or  the  points  presented  themselves  against  the  bones  of 
the  nose  and  face,  threatening  to  perforate  them.  We  have 
given  a  similar  description  of  the  Irish  breed.  In  proportion  as 
the  breed  became  improved,  the  horns  lengthened,  and  they  are 


76  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

characteristically  distinguished  by  the  name  of  'The  Long- 
Horns.'  Cattle  of  a  similar  description  were  found  in  the  dis- 
tricts of  Lancashire,  bordering  on  Craven,  and  also  in  the  South- 
eastern parts  of  "Westmoreland ;  but  tradition,  in  both  of  these 
districts,  pointed  to  Craven  as  the  original  habitation  of  the 
long-horn  breed.  If  there  gradually  arose  any  difference  between 
them,  it  was  that  the  Craven  beasts  were  the  broadest  in  the 
chine,  the  shortest,  the  handsomest,  and  the  quickest  feeders; 
the  Lancashire  ones  were  larger,  longer  in  the  quarters,  but 
with  a  fall  behind  the  shoulders,  and  not  so  level  on  the  chine. 
Whence  these  cattle  were  derived,  is  still  a  disputed  point." 

The  breed  gradually  spread  into  the  adjoining  more  midland 
counties,  and  as  the  cows  were  good  milkers,  they  became  per- 
manently established  in  the  dairies,  where  they  have  long  been 
kept,  and  are  to  a  considerable  extent  retained  to  the  present 
day ;  and  although,  as  a  grazier's  beast  they  have  been  pushed 
aside  by  some  of  the  more  favorite  breeds,  there  are  still  found 
some  fine  dairv  herds,  and  others  bred  in  high  perfection  for  the 
shambles,  for  which  purpose  their  breeders  contend  they  are  a 
highly  profitable  beast. 


Plato  8.    Long 


"THE  LOXQ-HORXS.  77 

The  preceding  cut  represents  one  of  the  best  of  the  improved 
long-horn  bulls  of  the  present  day.  From  all  we  can  gather  of 
their  early  history,  they  appear,  before  their  improvement  began, 
to  have  been  of  rather  sleazy  appearance,  loose  jointed,  sway- 
backed,  and  coarse  in  the  bone, — points  yet  not  altogether  bred 
out  of  them,  and  perhaps  never  can  be  bred  out  by  the  use  of  their 
own  blood  alone.  Still,  in  the  animal  before  us,  we  see  a  com- 
pact, rangy  beast,  with  many  excellent  qualities. 

We  have  not  introduced  the  long-horned  cattle  into  this  work 
because  we  recommend  them,  or  expect  them  to  be,  to  any  extent, 
brought  into  the  United  States  as  rivals  to  other  popular  breeds 
which  are  already  here  to  improve  our  native  stock,  although  we 
confess  there  are  some  salient  and  taking  points  of  character  in 
them ;  but  chiefly  to  record  the  career  of  a  man,  distinguished  in 
his  time  as  one  of  the  greatest  improvers  of  farm  stock  of  which 
we  have  any  account — Robert  Bakewell — and  of  whom  our 
American  stock  breeders  should  have  some  more  distinct  history 
than  what  floats  about  among  the  fugitive  papers  of  the  time. 
Our  account  of  him  is  taken  from  Youatt,  and  his  account  from  a 
paper  in  the  "Gentleman's  Magazine,"  a  London  publication  of 
the  last  century. 

Robert  Bakewell  was  a  farmer  and  stock  breeder  by  profes- 
sion— as  were  his  father,  and  grandfather  before  him — and  born 
at  Dishley,  in  Leicestershire,  England,  about  the  year  1725. 
His  father  and  grandfather,  during  their  lives,  had  both  resided 
on  the  same  estate.  In  the  course  of  his  career,  he  bred  the 
common  cart  horse  of  England  to  high  perfection,  giving  him 
greater  size,  weight,  and  more  muscular  form  than  lie  before 
possessed,  together  with  more  beauty  of  form.  He  also  bred  the 
coarse,  long-wooled  sheep  into  such  marked  improvement  that 
they  assumed  in  his  hands,  the  new  names  of  "Dishley,"  "Bake- 
well,"  or  "Leicester,"  by  the  latter  of  which  names  (since  fur- 
ther improved,  in  other  hands,  by  a  cross  of  the  "old  Cotswolds" 


78  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

and  "Lincolns,"  noted  "  long-wooled  "  varieties  of  the  present 
day,)  they  are  now  known.  His  practice  and  experience  were 
long,  as  he  died  at  about  seventy  years  of  age. 

About  the  year  1720  the  first  known  improvement  of  the 
long-horns  was  attempted.  A  blacksmith  and  farrier,  of  Linton, 
in  Derbyshire,  on  the  borders  of  Leicestershire,  who  had  rented 
a  little  farm,  had  the  honor  of  being  first  on  the  list  of  improvers. 
His  name  was  Welby.  But  a  fatal  disease  broke  out  and  took 
off  his  cows,  of  which  he  had  several,  and  put  a  stop  to  his  far- 
ther progress.  Soon  after  this,  Mr.  Webster,  of  (Janley,  near 
Coventry,  distinguished  himself  as  a  breeder.  His  herd  had 
come  from  Sir  Thomas  Gresley's  stock,  from  whom  also  the 
unfortunate  blacksmith,  Welby,  had  obtained  his  animals. 
Webster  had  also  obtained  bulls  from  Lancashire,  and  West- 
moreland. He  bred  them  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  so 
that  they  were  called  the  "Canley"  breed,  and  from  his  herd 
were  afterwards  drawn  the  chief  and  most  valuable  progenitors 
of  the  "improved"  race. 

Then  came  Bakewell  on  the  stage,  as  a  further  improver  of 
the  long-horns,  and  it  must  be  confessed,  with  a  race  of  cattle 
already  prepared  to  his  hands  on  which  to  exercise  his  ingenuity 
and  skill.  His  plan  was  to  improve  the  stock  from  their  own 
blood  alone,  and  without  intermixture  of  any  other.  He  pur- 
chased two  heifers  from  Mr.  Webster,  and  a  choice  bull  from 
Westmoreland.  He  bred  closely  "in  and  in,"  but  was  careful  to 
have  his  crosses,  although  of  the  same  family,  sufficiently  sepa- 
rate to  avoid  any  defects  which  might  be  perpetuated  in  the 
direct  descent,  where  they  might  exist,  from  parent  to  offspring 
by  the  intensity  of  their  interbreeding  with  each  other. 

"Many  years  did  not  pass  before  his  stock  was  unrivalled  for 
the  roundness  of  its  form,  and  the  smallness  of  its  bone,  and  its 
aptitude  to  acquire  external  fat,  while  they  were  small  consumers 
of  food  in  proportion  to  their  size;  but  at  the  same  time  their 


THE    LONG-HORNS.  79 

qualities  as  milkers  were  considerably  lessened.  The  grazier 
could  not  too  highly  value  the  Dishley,  or  New  Leicester  long- 
horn;  but  the  dairyman,  and  the  little  farmer  clung  to  the  old 
breed  as  most  useful  for  their  purpose." 

By  what  strange  gift,  or  skill,  Mr.  Bakewell  improved  his  cat- 
tle, he  left  no  record.  He  was  not  a  man  of  learning,  science, 
or  wide  observation  beyond  his  own  line,  but  he  studied  his  pur- 
suit with  great  attention.  He  used  to  dissect  the  slaughtered 
carcasses  of  his  cattle,  hang  up  and  preserve  their  joints,  bones 
and  sinews,  in  his  rooms,  and  put  their  flesh  hi  pickle,  and  study 
them,  as  a  surgeon  studies  his  anatomical  specimens  of  humanity. 
By  this  he  was  enabled  to  detect  their  faults  and  imperfections, 
and  by  comparison  with  living  animals  avoid  the  perpetuation  of 
like  imperfections  in  the  young  progeny.  He  was  kind-hearted, 
and  treated  his  cattle  with  great  tenderness,  never  using  anything 
heavier  than  a  little  switch  to  control  the  young  things;  thus  he 
rendered  them  docile,  and  gentle  in  temper,  a  quality  tending 
much  to  their  thrift  and  rapid  growth.  In  the  course  of  years 
he  probably  raised  the  long-horns  to  the  highest  point  of  per- 
fection of  which  the  race  was  capable.  The  upshot  was,  he  had 
sacrificed  the  milking  quality  of  his  herd  for  the  promotion  of 
their  flesh,  and  the  symmetry  of  their  forms;  and  after  all,  it 
may  be  questioned  how  valuable  his  improvements,  in  an  econom- 
ical point  of  view,  were  to  the  common  farmers,  who  kept  and 
bred  them. 

Youatt  gives  a  long  and  particular  description  of  many  points 
in  Bakewell's  practice,  made  up  of  inferences  chiefly,  some  of 
which  may  be  correct,  but  as  they  are  matters  of  opinion,  we  do 
not  care  to  follow  them.  He  names  a  fact,  however,  which  it  is 
worth  while  to  notice,  viz.:  After  Bakewell's  death,  and  his 
stock  went  into  other  hands,  they  declined.  His  spirit,  skill, 
sagacity,  tact,  experience  and  knowledge — for  he  possessed  all 
these  in  an  eminent  degree — did  not  go  with  them.  <;  Tradition," 


80  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

too,  says  that  the  long  horns  have  never  been  so  good  since 
Bakewell's  time.  "Tradition,"  however,  is  not  accepted  in  the 
present  day  as  evidence  in  a  court  of  justice,  and  many  of  her 
rumors  and  sayings  may  be  apocryphal.  We  are  inclined  to 
believe,  from  accounts  which  we  have  occasionally  seen,  and  up 
to  a  late  date  also,  that  there  do  now  exist  in  England  as  good 
long-horns  as  Bakewell  ever  bred,  although  not  in  numerous 
herds,  nor  of  wide-spread  fame. 

A  Mr.  Fowler,  of  Rollwright,  in  Oxfordshire,  bought  some 
cattle  of  Bakewell,  and  bred  them  with  great  care.  He  had  a 
sale  in  the  year  1791,  in  which  seven  bulls  and  six  cows  were 
sold.  The  prices  of  his  bulls  ranged  from  $760  to  $1,250,  and 
his  cows  from  $446  to  $1,365  each,  and  his  whole  herd  of  fifty 
averaged  $429  each,  showing  the  high  value  put  upon  the  breed 
at  that  day.  But  it  is  needless  to  pursue  this  branch  of  the 
subject  further,  as  we  have  no  definite  interest  in  the  breed,  as 
yet,  in  this  country.  Indeed,  we  have  only  introduced  this 
information  here  as  a  matter  of  collateral  interest  to  our  American 
cattle  breeders,  and  to  give  an  outline  of  one  branch  of  Mr. 
Bakewell's  course,  and  success. 

AS    A    DAIRY    COW, 

The  "  old-fashioned "  long-horn  ranks  high,  and  is  extensively 
used  in  some  of  the  dairy  counties  of  England, — many,  in  their 
purity  of  blood,  and  more  in  their  grades  with  other  breeds  and 
admixtures.  Her  milk  is  good,  and  the  quantity  given  satisfac- 
tory to  the  dairyman ;  and  without  both  these  qualities,  a  people 
so  systematic  as  they,  and  looking  sharply  to  profits,  would 
certainly  discard  her. 

Aside  from  the  plate,  which  is  that  of  a  very  fat  cow,  we 
give  a  more  particular  description.  The  head  is  long;  the 
neck  none  too  clean ;  the  dewlap  small ;  the  shoulder  fair ; 
the  rib  tolerable  ;  the  brisket  good ;  the  back  a  little  swayed,  or 


THE    LONG-HORKS.  81 

hollow ;  the  loin  good ;  the  hips  wide ;  the  rumps  and  tail  high ; 
the  thighs  moderately  round.  The  colors — red,  red-roan,  blue- 
roan,  yellow-red,  or  inclining  sometimes  to  fawn  color;  and 
sometimes  white  on  the  back  and  belly.  The  horns  show  for 
themselves — the  most  objectionable,  uneconomical,  and  incon- 
venient feature  altogether,  although  giving  her  a  most  picturesque 
and  unique  appearance.  In  size  they  are  above  medium,  ranging 


Plate  9.    Long-horn  Cow. 

in  bulk  and  weight  fully  with  the  Hereford.  The  cow  here 
represented  was  ten  years  old,  kept  some  years  as  a  milker,  and 
then  fed  off  for  the  shambles.  She  shows  a  wonderful  develop- 
ment of  flesh,  indicating  a  high  feeding  quality. 

AS    A   WORKING    OX. 

We  do  not  see,  in  this  connection,  how  the  long-horn  can  be 
superior,  or  as  good  as  the  Devon,  or  Hereford,  although  he  is 
somewhat  used  in  England  for  that  purpose,  in  the  districts 
where  he  is  bred.  His  horns  are  decidedly  in  the  way,  and  his 
sway,  or  depressed  back,  must  detract  from  his  strength  for  a 
heavy  pull.  Although  kind  and  tractable  as  other  beasts  in 
temper,  the  objections  on  other  scores  are  sufficient  to  make  him 
4* 


82 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


undesirable  for  labor  when  other  oxen,  as  in  this  country,  can 
be  plentifully  found. 

AS    A    BEEF    ANIMAL, 

The  long-horn  is  good.  They  feed  well,  and  kindly.  They 
prove  well  at  the  shambles,  and  the  quality  of  the  flesh  is  fair,  but 
not  superior  to  that  of  other  approved  breeds.  Their  advocates, 
of  whom  there  are  many  in  England,  have  exhibited  some  fine 
specimens  at  the  Smithfield  market,  in  London,  and  claim  for 
them  an  equality  with  any  other  breed ;  but  that  claim  is  not 
generally  admitted  by  the  breeders  and  graziers  of  other  estab- 
lished breeds. 


Plate  10.    Long-horn  Ox. 

In  the  specimen  before  us  is  seen  a  well-formed  and  full-fleshed 
animal,  highly  bred,  and  in  his  best  condition — much  better  than 
anything  within  the  range  of  "common"  cattle.  He  is  a  good 
"handler,"  with  an  elastic  touch,  good  skin  and  hair,  and  his 
"proof,"  in  tallow,  must  be  good; — altogether  a  very  creditable 
beast.  His  true  profit,  however,  as  an  economical  animal,  must 


THE    LONG-HORNS.  83 

be  tested  by  the  amount  of  food  he  has  consumed,  in  proportion 
to  his  dead  weight  at  the  shambles. 

THE    LONG-HORNS    IN    AMERICA. 

On  this  item,  our  record  must  be  short.  Among  the  early 
importations  of  English  cattle  in  the  Northern  States,  and  pos- 
sibly in  the  Middle,  and  Southern,  that  some  long-horns  came 
also  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  we  well  recollect,  in  our  boyhood, 
cattle  which  had  some  of  their  distinctive  marks,  too  obvious  to 
be  mistaken,  as  inherited  from  that  race.  The  first  definitely 
known  introduction  of  them,  was  by  a  Mr.  Smith,  a  merchant, 
we  believe,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  who  brought  out  a  bull  and  cow, 
and  took  to  that  town  about,  or  in,  the  year  1817.  They  were 
there  bred,  but  whether  together,  or  with  other  cattle,  we  have 
no  direct  information.  At  all  events,  they  were  soon  merged  in 
the  "Patton"  stock,  and  the  "Short-horns  of  Col.  Sanders' 
importation  of  1817."  The  blood  of  those  cattle  still  exists  in 
a  remote  degree  in  some  of  the  grade  Kentucky  herds,  as  we 
have  distinctly  seen,  not  many  years  ago,  in  steers  sent  from 
there  to  the  New  York  cattle  markets.  The  long-horns  were 
not  received  with  much  favor  in  Kentucky,  as  the  merits  of  the 
short-horns  soon  overshadowed  them. 

When  a  youngster,  just  emerging  into  the  gristle  and  bone  of 
manhood,  during  a  temporary  residence  in  northern  Ohio,  we 
made  a  horseback  journey,  in  the  month  of  September,  1821, 
down  into  the  Scioto  valley,  as  far  as  Oircleville,  in  the  county 
of  Pickaway.  In  the  valley,  below  Columbus,  were  "  the  Vir- 
ginia military  grants,"  in  which  numerous  settlers  from  that  State 
and  Pennsylvania  had  come  at  an  early  day — for  that  country, 
1790  to  1800 — who  took  up  large  tracts  of  its  rich  lands,  and 
cleared  and  cultivated  them  into  broad  pastures  and  rich  corn- 
fields. A  mile  or  two  north  of  the  town,  on  the  Columbus  road, 
spying  a  dozen^or  so  of  strange  looking  cattle,  in  a  rich  blue 


84  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

grass  pasture,  shaded  with  groups  of  grand  old  oaks  and  walnuts, 
we  reined  up  to  the  fence,  dismounted,  hitched  our  horse,  and 
went  into  the  field.  The  cattle  were  just,  as  Youatt  and  our 
pictures  describe  them,  blue,  and  red  roans,  and  white  backs  and 
bellies,  with  horns  long,  curving  forward,  and  drooping  under 
the  jaws ;  their  bodies  were  round  and  full,  showing  high  marks 
of  growth  and  thrift, — a  bull,  some  cows,  and  calves.  How 
they  came  there,  or  who  they  belonged  to,  we  did  not  particu- 
larly inquire  at  the  time,  having  then  little  curiosity,  or  interest 
in  cattle.  Not  again  going  there  until  thirty  years  later,  we 
heard  nothing  more  of  the  cattle,  and  then,  on  inquiry  of  one  or 
two  of  the  oldest  settlers  in  the  vicinity,  we  could  learn  nothing 
of  them,  only,  "  that  they  recollected  some  man,  rich,  and  a 
large  landholder  thereabouts,  had  driven  some  '  imported '  cattle 
in  there,  but  what  became  of  them  they  did  not  know,  and  no 
trace  was  left  of  them." 

Thus  ends  our  story  of  the  long-horns  in  America.      We 
trust  that  they  may  again  be  imported  here,  and  have  a  fair  trial. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    CATTLE    OF    SCOTLAND. 

HATING  examined  the  two  marked  and  best  approved  of  the 
middle-horned  races  of  England;  and  taken  a  sufficient  notice 
of  the  long-horns,  we  proceed  to  examine  three  of  the  most 
approved  breeds  of  Scotland,  as  now  concentrated,  and  improved 
from  original  races  there,  and  fashioned  to  the  uses  of  the 
present  day. 

Lying  north  of  England,  with  a  surface  more  or  less  moun- 
tainous in  its  northern  territory,  and  a  much  severer  climate,  its 
cattle,  from  time  immemorial,  have  been  of  a  far  different  order, 
and  applied  to  somewhat  different  purposes  than  those  of  Eng- 
land. Youatt  describes  the  breeds,  or  varieties  of  the  different 
sections  of  the  country  minutely,  and  with  great  interest.  It  is 
not  necessary  for  the  present  purpose  to  follow  him  throughout, 
but  we  shall  extract  largely  from  him,  both  in  text  and  opinion. 
His  information  is  solely  from  Scottish  authorities,  and  such  an 
air  of  fidelity  to  truth  runs  through  them  that  we  may  wisely 
adopt,  so  far  as  our  purposes  need,  their  conclusions. 

The  reader  may  inquire,  why,  when  England  contains  all  of 
improvement  in  her  best  breeds  that  an  American  demands, 
should  we  seek  the  inferior  cattle  of  Scotland  to  multiply,  and 
further  mix  up  the  already  sufficient  varieties  of  cattle  on  our 
soils  ?  Our  answer  is,  that  the  vast  scope  of  climates,  soils,  and 
altitudes  of  the  United  States,  and  their  territories,  embrace  those 
of  both  England  and  Scotland,  as  well  as  the  tropics.  No  one, 
two,  three,  or  even  four  different  breeds  are  best  suited  to  them 


86  AMERICAN    CATTLB. 

all,  and  when  we  find  those  already  fitted  to  our  hands,  and 
applicable  to  the  best  economical  uses  for  all  the  different  parts 
of  our  broad  country,  it  is  the  part  of  wisdom  to  adopt  them, 
instead  of  striving,  by  a  long  course  of  unprofitable  experiment, 
to  change  and  acclimate  those  by  nature  unfitted  to  new  locali- 
ties. Let  us  take  advantage  of  the  labors  of  others,  and  apply 
them  immediately  to  our  uses  and  demands. 

ThusYouatt:  "Scotland  contains  several  distinct  and  valua- 
ble breeds  of  cattle,  evidently  belonging  to  our  present  division — 
'  the  middle-horns.'  The  "West  Highlanders,  whether  we  regard 
those  that  are  found  in  the  Hebrides,  or  the  county  of  Argyle, 
seem  to  retain  most  of  the  aboriginal  character.  They  have 
remained  unchanged,  or  improved  only  by  selection,  for  many 
generations,  or  indeed  from  the  earliest  accounts  that  we  possess 
of  Scottish  cattle." 

It  is  well  to  remark,  as  a  matter  of  geographical  information, 
that  the  western  coast  of  Scotland,  north  of  Ireland,  is  skirted 
for  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles  by  a  cluster  of  islands  greater 
or  smaller  in  extent ;  and  further  west  and  north  of  these  extends 
another  cluster  called  the  Hebrides,  or  Western  Islands,  all 
thickly  inhabited  with  a  population  more  or  less  agricultural  in 
their  pursuits,  and  having  with  them  the  aboriginal  race  of  cattle 
mentioned  by  Youatt.  Beyond  these,  and  on  the  extreme  north 
of  Scotland  proper,  range  another  group  of  islands,  called  the 
Orkneys,  and  to  the  extreme  north  of  them,  another,  called  the 
Shetland  Islands,  famous  for  a  hardy  people,  and  producing  a 
diminutive  race  of  tough,  rugged  little  cattle,  and  also  those 
wild  looking,  diminutive  horses  called  "Shelties,"  or  Shetland 
ponies,  of  late  introduced  among  us.  These  several  groups  range 
from  55>£°  to  61°  north  latitude;  and  although  their  climates 
be  not  so  severe  as  in  corresponding  American  latitudes,  they  are 
harsh,  austere  and  boisterous. 


CATTLE    OP   SCOTLAND.  87 

Leaving  out  the  Orkneys,  and  Shetlands,  whose  cattle  are 
too  diminutive  to  attract  our  particular  notice,  these  western 
groups  of  islands,  together  with  the  Highlands  proper,  of  Scot- 
land, possess  a  hardy  race  of  middle-horned  cattle,  long  termed 
"Kyloes,"  so  called,  as  Sir  John  Sinclair  asserts,  "from  their 
crossing  so  many  kyloes,  or  ferries,  which  abound  in  the  west  of 
Scotland."  "Others,"  says  Youatt,  "and  with  more  propriety, 
one  of  whom  is  Mr.  Macdonald,  the  author  of  the  '  Agriculture 
of  the  Highlands,'  tell  us,  that  it  is  a  corruption  of  the  Gaelic 
word  which  signifies  highland,  and  is  commonly  pronounced  as 
if  spelled  Kad"  These  cattle,  all,  probably,  of  one  generic 
origin,  have  been  intermixed  by  various  crosses,  within  them- 
selves, so  as  to  become  homogeneous  in  nature,  habit,  and 
appearance,  and  as  Scottish  agriculture  in  the  islands  and  the 
highlands  has  progressed,  the  cattle  have  also  been  better  culti- 
vated and  cared  for,  and  within  a  century  past  highly  improved, 
so  as  now  to  assume  a  distinct  name  and  character,  as  "  West 
Highlands."  To  these  our  attention  will  now  be  directed. 

THE    WEST    HIGHLAND    CATTLE. 

There  are  no  "  Highland  "  cattle  in  the  United  States.  At 
least,  we  do  not  know  of  any.  Our  impression  is  that  a  few 
wore  imported  some  years  ago  into  Upper  Canada,  but  what 
has  become  of  them,  if  such  was  the  fact,  we  have  never 
learned.  We  have  immense  ranges  of  land  in  our  mountain 
districts,  in  various  parts  of  the  older  States,  which  when 
properly  subdued,  will  become  a  pastoral  country.  The  vast 
plains  west  and  north  of  the  Missouri,  as  well  as  the  wide 
mountain  ranges  which  traverse  them,  must  mainly  be  occupied 
in  breeding  and  grazing  cattle,  if  anvthing.  Those  lands  will  be 
admirably  adapted  to  a  class  of  cattle  like  the  "West  High- 
lands." No  really  superior  class  of  our  present  cattle  are,  as 
yet,  properly  fitted  for  the  wild  and  roving  life  of  such  a  country. 


88  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

The  subject  is  a  new  one  in  our  agricultural  economy.  Vast 
spaces  of  these  now  wild  lands,  covered  with  a  short  and 
abundant  herbage,  fed  with  limited  streams  of  water,  and  unfitted 
for  profitable  tillage  crops,  must  be  owned  in  large  tracts,  and 
sparsely  populated.  Their  distance  from  a  dense  population  will 
preclude  the  possibility  of  taking  their  surplus  grains  to  market, 
at  a  profit,  even  if  they  could  be  profitably  raised,  and  they  can 
hardly  be  so  profitably  used  as  to  stock  them  with  cattle.  They 
can  breed,  and  graze  while  young,  on  the  broad  plains,  and  when 
fit  for  market,  be  driven  far  away  down  to  the  more  fertile  districts, 
and  fattened,  as  the  Scottish  Highlanders  drive  theirs  to  the 
richer  lowlands,  and  to  England.  Our  herdsmen  of  the  plains 
and  mountains  would  be  at  a  far  greater  distance  from  their 
markets  then  the  graziers  of  Scotland,  but  that  distance  is  not 
insurmountable,  nor  over  expensive. 

This  is  looking  somewhat  into  the  future,  we  admit,  and  by 
some  it  may  be  thought  chimerical ;  but  when  we  have  seen, 
within  twenty  years  past,  California  discovered ;  a  State  made 
of  it ;  two  other  States,  and  more  organized  territories,  soon  to 
become  States  with  them,  adjoining  it ;  several  traveled  routes 
for  vast  caravans  of  emigrants,  and  merchandise,  and  stage 
coaches  passing  over  them ;  a  railroad  under  construction  and  to 
be  completed  within  the  next  five  years,  across  the  continent ; 
telegraph  lines,  and  the  appendages  of  wealth  and  civilization 
introduced  with  an  energy  and  rapidity  hitherto  unparalleled*  in 
the  annals  of  human  progress ;  it  is  not  too  much  to  assume  that 
an  enlightened  agricultural  interest  will  soon  direct  its  efforts 
thitherward,  and  plant  itself  firmly  and  permanently  beside  the 
various  mining  and  other  enterprises  which  are  already  estab- 
lished, and  becoming  thicker  and  more  substantial  continually. 
In  view  of  these  possibilities — probabilities,  rather — we  need  no 
further  apology  for  the  space  we  shall  occupy  in  introducing  this 
valuable  foreign  race  of  cattle  to  American  study  and  attention. 


HIGHLAND    CATTLE.  89 

Again  Youatt: 

"  We  have  been  favored  with  the  following  excellent  descrip- 
tion of  the  true  Kyloe,  or  West  Highland  bull,  by  Malcolm 
M'Neill,  Esq.,  of  the  Isle  of  Islay,  the  southernmost  of  the  inner 
range  of  the  Hebrides:  'The  Highland  bull  should  be  black, 
the  head  not  large,  the  ears  thin,  the  muzzle  fine,  and  rather 
turned  up.  He  should  be  broad  in  the  face,  the  eyes  prominent, 
and  the  countenance  calm  and  placid.  The  horns  should  taper 
finely  to  a  point;  and,  neither  drooping  too  much,  nor  rising  too 
high,  should  be  of  a  waxy  color,  and  widely  set  on  at  the  root. 
The  neck  should  be  fine,  particularly  where  it  joins  the  head,  and 
rising  with  a  gentle  curve  from  the  shoulder.  The  breast  (brisket) 
wide,  and  projecting  well  before  the  legs.  The  shoulder  broad 
at  the  top,  and  the  chine  so  full  as  to  leave  but  little  hollow 
behind  them,  (that  is,  the  crops  are  full.)  The  girth  behind  the 
shoulder  deep ;  the  back  straight,  wide,  and  flat ;  the  ribs  broad, 
the  space  between  them  and  the  hips  small ;  the  belly  not  sink- 
ing low  in  the  middle ;  yet,  in  the  whole,  not  forming  the  round 
and  barrel-like  carcass  which  some  have  described.  The  thigh 
tapering  to  the  hock-joint;  the  bones  larger  in  proportion  to 
the  size  than  in  the  breeds  of  the  southern  districts.  The  tail 
set  on  a  level  with  the  back.  The  legs  short  and  straight.  The 
whole  carcass  covered  with  a  thick,  long  coat  of  hair,  and  plenty 
of  hair  also  about  the  face  and  horns,  and  that  hair  not  curly.' 

"  The  value  of  the  West  Highland  cattle  consists  in  their  being 
hardy,  and  easily  fed ;  in  that  they  will  live,  and  sometimes 
thrive,  on  the  coarsest  pastures;  that  they  will  frequently  gain 
from  a  fourth  to  a  third  of  their  original  weight  in  six  months' 
good  feeding;  that  the  proportion  of  offal  is  not  greater  than  in 
the  most  improved  larger  breeds ;  that  they  will  lay  their  flesh 
and  fat  equally  on  the  best  parts;  and  that,  when  fat,  the  beef 
is  closed  fine  in  the  grain,  highly  flavored,  and  so  well  mixed  or 
marbled,  that  it  commands  a  superior  price  in  every  market. 


90  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"  The  different  islands  of  the  Hebrides  contain  about  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  thousand  of  these  cattle,  of  which  it  is  calculated 
that  one-fifth  are  sent  annually  to  the  main  land,  principally 
through  Jura,  or  across  from  the  ferry  of  the  Isle  of  Skye. 
*  *  *  *  Cattle,  therefore,  constitute  the  staple  commodity 
of  the  Hebrides.  Three  thousand  five  hundred  are  annually 
exported  from  the  island  of  Islay  alone. 

"Mr.  Moorhouse,  from  Craven,  in  Yorkshire,  in  1763,  was 
the  first  Englishman  who  came  into  the  Hebrides  to  buy  cattle. 
In  the  absence  of  her  husband,  Mr.  M'Donald,  of  Kingsburgh, 
he  was  kindly  entertained  by  Flora  M'Donald,  who  made  up  for 
him  the  same  bed  that,  seventeen  years  before,  had  received  the 
unfortunate  Prince  Charles. 

"  From  Skye,  Mr.  Moorhouse  went  to  Raasay,  whither  in  three 
days,  Kingsburgh  folio-wed  him;  and,  during  a  walk  in  the 
garden,  on  a  fine  harvest  evening,  they  bargained  for  one  thou- 
sand cattle,  at  two  guineas  a  head,  to  be  delivered  free  of  ex- 
pense at  Falkirk.  Two  days  before,  he  had  bought  six  hundred 
from  Mr.  M'Leod,  of  Waterside. 

"Forty  years  ago,  (from  1763,  the  time  at  which  Mr.  Moor- 
house dates  back,  say  in  1723,)  the  treatment  of  cattle  was, 
with  very  few  exceptions,  absurd  and  ruinous,  to  a  strange  degree, 
through  the  whole  of  the  Hebrides.  With  the  exception  of  the 
milk  cows,  and  not  even  of  the  calves,  they  were  all  wintered 
in  the  field;  if  they  were  scantily  fed  with  hay,  it  was  coarse, 
and  withered,  and  half-rotten ;  or  if  they  got  a  little  straw,  they 
were  thought  to  be  well  taken  care  of.  The  majority  got  little 
more  than  sea- weed,  heather,  and  rushes.  One-fifth  of  the  cattle, 
on  an  average,  used  to  perish  every  winter  from  starvation. 
When  the  cold  had  been  unusually  severe,  and  the  snow  had 
lain  long  on  the  ground,  one-half  of  the  stock  has  been  lost,  and 
the  remainder  have  afterwards  been  thinned  by  the  diseases 
which  poverty  had  engendered. 


HIGHLAND    CATTLE.  91 

"  It  proved  the  excellency  of  the  breed,  that  in  the  course  of 
two  or  three  months  so  many  of  them  got  again  into  good  store 
condition,  and  might  almost  be  said  to  be  half-fat,  and  could 
scarcely  be  restrained  by  any  fence;  in  fact,  there  are  numerous 
instances  of  these  cattle,  which  had  been  reduced  to  the  most 
dreadful  state  of  impoverishment,  becoming  fattened  for  the 
butcher  in  a  few  months,  after  being  placed  on  some  of  the  rich 
summer  pastures  of  Islay,  Lewis,  or  Skye. 

"The  cows  were  housed  during  the  winter;  but.  among  the 
small  farmers  this  was  conducted  in  a  singular  way — for  one 
rude  dwelling  contained  and  sheltered  both  the  family  and  the 
cattle.  The  family  had  their  beds  of  straw  or  heath  in  the 
niches  of  the  walls,  while  the  litter  was  never  removed  from  the 
cattle,  but  fresh  layers  of  straw  were  occasionally  laid  down, 
and  so  the  floor  rose  with  the  accumulation  of  dung  and  litter, 
until  the  season  of  spreading  it  upon  the  land,  when  it  was  at 
length  taken  away.* 

"The  peculiarity  of  the  climate  and  the  want  of  inclosed  lands, 
and  the  want,  too,  of  forethought  in  the  farmer,  were  the  chief 
causes  of  this  wretched  system  of  winter  starvation.  The 
rapidity  of  vegetation  in  the  latter  part  of  the  spring,  is  astonish- 
ing in  these  islands.  A  good  pasture  can  scarcely  be  left  a 
fortnight  without  growing  high  and  rank;  and  even  the  unen- 
closed, and  marshy  and  heathy  grounds  are  comparatively  luxu- 
riant. In  consequence  of  this,  the  farmer  fully  stocked,  or  over- 

"  *Mr.  Garnet  in  his  '  Tour  through  the  Highlands,'  gives  a  sadder  account  of  the 
frequent  joint  occupancy  of  the  same  hut,  by  the  peasant  and  his  cattle,  in  the 
Island  of  Mull.  He  had  been  speaking  of  the  privations  of  the  peasant ;  he  adds  : 
4  Nor  are  his  cattle  in  a  better  situation  ;  in  summer  they  pick  up  a  scanty  support 
among  the  morasses  and  heathy  mountains,  but  in  winter,  when  the  ground  is  cov- 
ered with  snow,  and  when  the  naked  wilds  afford  them  neither  shelter  nor  subsis- 
tence, the  few  cows,  small,  lean,  and  ready  to  drop  for  want  of  pasture,  are  brought 
into  the  hut  where  the  family  reside,  and  frequently  share  with  them  their  little 
stock  of  meal  which  has  been  purchased  or  raised  for  the  family  only ;  while  the 
cattle  thus  sustained,  are  bled  occasionally  to  afford  nourishment  for  the  children 
after  the  mingled  oatmeal  and  blood  has  been  boiled  or  made  into  cakes.' 


92  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

stocked,  even  this  pasture.  He  crowded  his  fields  at  the  rate 
of  six  or  eight  beasts  or  more  to  an  acre.  From  their  natural 
aptitude  to  fatten,  they  got  into  tolerable  condition,  but  not  such 
as  they  might  have  attained,  whether  destined  for  the  salesman 
or  the  butcher.  Winter,  however,  succeeded  to  summer;  no 
provision  had  been  made  for  it,  except  for  the  cows;  and  the 
beasts  that  were  not  properly  fed  even  in  the  summer,  languished 
and  starved  in  the  winter. 

"It  is  contrived,  as  much  as  possible,  that  the  calves  shall  be 
dropped  from  the  first  of  February  to  the  middle  of  April.  All 
the  calves  are  reared ;  and  for  the  first  three  or  four  months  they 
are  allowed  to  suck  three  times  in  the  day,  but  they  are  not 
permitted  to  draw  any  great  quantity  at  a  time.  In  summer  all 
the  cattle  are  pastured ;  the  calves  are  sent  to  their  dams  twice 
in  the  day,  and  the  strippings,  or  last  part  of  the  milk,  is  taken 
away  by  the  dairy  maid,  for  it  is  commonly  supposed,  that  if  the 
calf  is  allowed  to  draw  all  the  milk  he  can,  it  will  keep  the  dam 
in  low  condition,  and  prevent  her  being  in  calf  in  proper  time. 
The  calves  are  separated  from  their  dams  two  or  three  weeks 
before  the  cast-cows  are  sent  to  the  cattle-tryst  at  the  end  of 
October,  for  it  is  believed  that  if  the  cows  had  milk  in  their 
udders  they  might  be  injured  in  the  long  journeys  they  are  then 
to  take ;  the  greater  part  of  them  beipg  driven  as  far  as  the 
lowland  districts,  whence  they  gradually  find  their  way  to  the 
central  and  southern  counties  of  England. 

"  The  calves  are  housed  in  the  beginning  of  November,  and 
are  highly  fed  on  hay  and  roots  (for  the  raising  of  which  the 
soil  and  climate  are  admirably  adapted,)  until  the  month  of  May. 
When  there  is  plenty  of  keep,  the  breeding  cows  are  housed  in 
November,  but  in  general  they  are  kept  out  until  three  or  four 
weeks  before  calving.  In  May,  the  whole  cattle  are  turned  out 
to  pasture,  and,  if  it  is  practicable,  those  of  different  ages  are 
kept  separate ;  while,  by  shifting  the  cattle,  the  -pasture  is  kept 


HIGHLAND    CATTLE.  93 

as  much  as  possible  in  eatable  condition,  that  is,  neither  eaten 
too  bare,  nor  allowed  to  get  too  rank,  or  to  run  into  seed. 

"In  the  winter  and  the  spring,  all  the  cattle  except  the 
breeding  cows  are  fed  in  the  fields,  the  grass  of  which  is  pre- 
served from  the  12th  of  August  to  the  end  of  October.  "When 
these  inclosures  become  bare,  about  the  end  of  December,  a  little 
hay  is  taken  into  the  field,  with  turnips  or  potatoes,  once  or  twice 
in  the  day,  according  to  circumstances,  until  the  middle  or  end 
of  April.  Few,  only,  of  the  farmers  have  these  roots  to  give 
them,  and  the  feeding  of  the  out-lying  cattle  with  straw  is  quite 
abolished.  If  any  of  them,  however,  are  very  materially  out 
of  condition,  they  are  fed  with  oats  in  the  sheaf.  At  two,  or 
three,  or  four  years  old,  all,  except  the  heifers  that  are  retained 
for  breeding,  are  sent  to  market. 

"  There  is  little  or  no  variety  of  breeds  of  cattle  in  the  Hebrides. 
They  are  pure  West  Highlanders.  Indeed,  it  is  the  belief  of 
the  Hebridean  farmer,  that  no  other  breed  of  cattle  will  thrive 
on  these  islands,  and  that  the  Kyloes  could  not  possibly  be 
improved  by  being  crossed  with  any  others.  He  appeals  to  his 
uniform  experience,  and  most  correctly  so  in  the  Hebrides,  that 
attempts  at  crossing  have  only  destroyed  the  symmetry  of  the 
Kyloes,  and  rendered  them  more  delicate,  and  less  suitable  to 
the  climate  and  the  pasture. 

"  By  selection  from  the  choicest  of  the  stock,  however,  the 
West  Highlander  has  been  materially  improved.  The  Islay,  the 
Isle  of  Skye,  and  the  Argyleshire  beast,  readily  obtains  a  con- 
siderably higher  price  than  any  other  cattle  reared  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland.  Mr.  M'Neil  has  been  eminently  suc- 
cessful in  his  attempts  to  improve  the  native  breed.  He  has 
often  obtained  100Z.  ($500)  for  three  and  four-year-old  bulls  out 
of  his  stock;  and  for  one  bull  he  received  200Z.  ($1,000.)  He 
never  breeds  from  bulls  less  than  three  years,  or  more  than  ten 
years  old ;  and  he  disapproves,  and  rightly  in  such  a  climate,  of 


94  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

the  system  of  breeding  in  and  in.  He  also  adheres  to  that 
golden  rule  of  breeding,  the  careful  selection  of  the  female ;  and, 
indeed,  it  is  not  a  small  sum  that  would  induce  the  Hebridean 
farmer  to  part  with  any  of  his  picked  cows. 

"  It  will  be  concluded,  from  what  we  have  said  of  the  milking 
properties  of  the  Kyloe,  that  the  dairy  is  considered  as  a  matter 
of  little  consequence  in  the  Hebrides;  and  the  farmer  rarely 
keeps  more  milk  cows  than  will  furnish  his  family  with  milk, 
and  butter  and  cheese.  The  Highland  cow  will  not  yield  more 
than  a  third  part  of  the  milk  that  is  obtained  from  the  Ayrshire 
one  at  no  great  distance  on  the  main  land ;  but  that  milk  is 
exceedingly  rich,  and  the  butter  procured  from  it  is  excellent. 

"  The  management  of  the  dairy  is  exceedingly  simple,  and, 
from  the  very  simplicity  of  it,  other  districts  may  learn  a  useful 
lesson.  The  cows  are  driven  as  slowly  and  quietly  as  possible 
to  the  fold ;  the  wild  character  of  the  animals,  as  well  as  a  regard 
to  the  quality  of  the  milk,  show  the  propriety  of  this.  They 
are  carefully  drained  to  the  last  drop,  not  only  on  account  of  the 
superior  richness  of  the  latter  portion  of  the  milk,  but  because 
the  retention  of  any  part  is  apt  to  hasten,  if  it  does  not  produce, 
that  which  is  one  of  the  principal  objections  to  the  Highland 
cows  as  milkers,  the  speedy  drying  up  of  their  milk.  The  milk 
is  carried  to  the  house  with  as  little  disturbance  as  practicable, 
and  put  into  vessels  of  not  more  than  two  or  three  inches  in 
depth.  The  cream  is  supposed  to  rise  more  rapidly  in  these 
shallow  vessels ;  and  it  is  removed  in  the  course  of  eighteen 
hours.  A  cow  will  not,  on  the  average,  yield  more  than  22  Ibs. 
of  butter  (of  24  oz.  each,)  in  the  summer  season;  she  will  yield 
about  90  Ibs.  of  cheese,  which  is  much  liked  by  some  on  account 
of  the  aromatic  flavor  which  is  given  to  it  by  the  mixture  of 
rose-leaves,  cinnamon,  mace,  cloves,  and  lemon  with  the  rennet. 

"  Oxen  are  never  used  for  the  plough  or  on  the  road,  on  any 
of  the  Hebrides. 


HIGHLAND    CATTLE.  95 

"We  have  stated  that  more  than  20,000  of  the  Hebridean 
cattle  are  conveyed  to  the  mainland,  some  of  which  find  their 
way  even  to  the  southernmost  counties  of  England ;  but,  like 
the  other  Highland  cattle,  their  journey  is  usually  slow  and 
interrupted.  Their  first  resting-place  is  not  a  great  way  from 
the  coast,  for  they  are  frequently  wintered  on  the  coarse  pastures 
of  Dumbartonshire ;  and  in  the  next  summer,  after  grazing 
awhile  on  the  lower  grounds,  they  are  driven  farther  south, 
where  they  are  fed  during  the  second  winter  on  turnips  and  hay. 
In  April  they  are  in  good  condition,  and  prepared  for  the  early 
grass,  on  which  they  are  finished. 

"Many  of  these  small  cattle  are  permanently  arrested  hi  their 
journey,  and  kept  on  low  farms  to  consume  the  coarse  grass, 
which  other  breeds  refuse  to  eat;  these  are  finished  off  on 
turnips,  which  are  given  them  in  the  field  about  the  end  of 
Autumn,  and  they  are  sold  about  Christmas." 

AS    A    BEEF    ANIMAL, 

The  flesh  of  the  West  Highland  ox,  is  considered  of  the  best 
quality  in  the  London  markets,  and  usually  worth  Id.,  or  two 
cents  per  pound  more  than  that  of  the  ordinary  breeds.  He  is 
usually  put  upon  high  feed  at  three  years  old,  and  in  good  pas- 
ture in  summer,  and  a  full  allowance  of  turnips  and  meal,  with 
plenty  of  hay  or  straw  in  winter,  is  fitted  for  the  shambles  at 
about  four  years  old.  Taken  from  their  native  ranges,  and  put 
upon  the  rich  feed  of  the  better  lands,  they  thrive  and  ripen 
wonderfully,  and  make  flesh  more  rapidly  than  any  other  cattle. 
It  is  the  habit  of  many  English  noblemen,  as  they  visit,  with 
their  families  and  numerous  retinue,  their  several  estates  and 
castles  during  the  "country  season,"  to  have  a  herd  of  Highland 
bullocks  driven  by  their  servants,  to  supply  their  table  with 
beef — the  small,  compact  size  of  these  cattle,  as  well  as  the 
superiority  of  their  flesh,  eminently  fitting  them  for  the  purpose. 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


The  animal  lays  his  flesh  generously  on  the  choice  parts,  and  it 
is  so  interlarded  with  fat  as  to  make  it  beautifully  marbled, — a 
capital  point  in  its  feeding.  The  weight  of  a  well  fed  bullock 
ranges  from  600  to  800  pounds — flesh,  hide,  and  tallow. 


Plate  11.    West  Highland  Ox. 

After  saying  thus  much,  and  at  such  length,  of  the  Highland 
cattle,  giving  Youatt's  admirable  account  of  them,  we  may  sum 
up  their  qualities  pretty  much  as  follows:  They  are  an  original 
breed,  bred  for  untold  centuries  in  one  of  the  roughest  climates; 
of  great  hardihood  and  endurance ;  homogeneous  in  their  natures 
and  habits;  strong  in  blood,  with  a  tendency  and  power  to 
transmit  it  upon  anything  with  which  they  may  be  connected. 
The  cows  are  not  fitted  for  the  dairy,  nor  is  it  necessary  they 
should  be  for  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  intended,  yet  giving 
milk  enough  to  rear  their  progeny  well.  They  mature  early, 
and  when  matured  are  full  in  all  their  points.  They  feed  their 
pastures  closely,  are  active  in  movement,  capable  of  ranging 
over  wide  fields,  gathering  their  subsistance  without  trouble, 
adapted  to  climates  and  soils  where  other  cattle  would  glean  a 


HIGHLAND    CATTLE.  97 

bare  subsistence,  and  thus  a  valuable  race  to  introduce  into  the 
regions  of  country  which  we  have  named. 

The  manner  of  doing  this  would  be  simple.  A  cargo  of  them 
might  be  selected  near  Glasgow,  Scotland,  where  the  choicest  of 
them  may  be  purchased  at  an  average  not  exceeding  $150  each, 
and  shipped  to  New  York,  or  Boston;  thence  transported 
cheaply  in  return  cattle  trains  westward,  which  usually  go  empty, 
and  then  distributed  to  their  destinations.  We  know  of  no  cat- 
tle enterprise,  for  the  purposes  we  have  named,  conducted  with 
proper  intelligence  and  spirit,  which  can  promise  more  fairly  and 
profitably;  and  we  hope  to  see  it  undertaken  by  men  whose 
means  and  foresight  are  equal  to  the  object.  A  cargo  of  one 
hundred,  about  equally  divided  between  bulls  and  cows,  might 
come  out  by  way  of  experiment.  A  single  bull  or  two  should 
be  retained  with  the  cows  for  thorough  breeding,  and  the  remain- 
der might  be  placed  with  small  native  cows,  for  the  immediate 
propagation  of  grades.  The  progeny  of  these  cows,  continu- 
ously put  to  thorough  bred  bulls,  would  soon  raise  them  to  that 
degree  of  blood  to  satisfy  the  main  object  of  their  introduction, 
and  in  a  comparatively  few  years,  for  all  practical  purposes,  they 
would  become  an  established  race,  with  but  a  fraction  of  the 
American  blood  remaining  in  them;  and  finally — holding  con- 
tinuously to  the  pure  Hooded  bulls  in  propagation — become  all 
that  we  need  in  that  description  of  cattle.  Thus,  our  far  south- 
western grazing  regions  which  now  send  us  only  the  ragged  and 
comparatively  worthless  Texan  cattle,  and  the  far  north-western 
wilds  which  send  us  none  at  all,  together  with  our  intermediate 
mountain  ranges,  would  ultimately — even  shortly — furnish  our 
interior  rich  lands  with  grazing  material  for  the  best  of  beef,  and 
our  markets  would  be  supplied  with  the  choicest  of  flesh  for 
consumption. 

Our  suggestions  on  this  subject  are  not  visionary — not  even 
enthusiastic.  We  only  open  one  of  those  sure  fields  of  enter- 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

prise,  which,  compared  with  every  day  ventures,  even  in  the 
agricultural  line,  usually  so  common-place  and  probable,  may 
lead  to  success  and  fortune.  We  hope  yet  to  see  the  Highland 
cattle  introduced  into  the  country.  Their  introduction  could  be 
no  bar  to  the  progress  of  the  other  valuable  breeds  we  have 
now  among  us,  as  these  latter  must  always  occupy  our  good 
soils,  on  which,  if  the  Highland  cattle  were  placed,  they  would 
soon  lose  their  distinctive  qualities  and  become  mere  common 
things.  They  are  never  bred  on  the  good  land  of  Scotland  or 
England. 


West  Highland  Cow 

We  give  above,  the  portrait  of  a  beautiful  dun,  or  light  mouse- 
colored  Highland  cow,  in  the  possession  of  Captain  Gunter,  at 
Witherby,  Yorkshire,  England,  drawn  purposely  for  this  work 
from  life,  last  summer,  by  our  artist,  Mr.  Page.  A  more  per- 
fectly developed  animal,  in  her  flesh  producing  qualities,  can 
hardly  be  found  of  any  breed  in  the  bovine  race. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE    GALLOWAYS. 

THESE  are  a  polled,  or  hornless,  race,  originating  in  the  low- 
lands and  extreme  south-western  part  of  Scotland,  taking  their 
name  from  the  district  where  they  have  been  mainly  bred.  We 
let  Youatt  speak  of  them  : 

"  The  stewartry  of  Kirkcudbright  and  the  shire  of  Wigton, 
with  a  part  of  Ayrshire  and  Dumfries,  formed  the  ancient 
province  or  kingdom  of  Galloway.  The  two  first  counties 
possess  much  interest  with  us  as  the  native  district  of  a  breed 
of  polled,  or  dodded,  or  *humble  cattle,  highly  valued  in  some 
of  the  southern  Scottish  counties,  and  in  almost  every  part  of 
England,  for  its  grazing  properties.  So  late  as  the  middle  of  the 
last  century,  the  greater  part  of  the  Galloway  cattle  were  horned 
— they  were  middle-horns ;  but  some  of  them  were  polled — they 
were  either  remnants  of  the  native  breed,  or  the  characteristic 
of  the  aboriginal  cattle  would  be  occasionally  displayed,  although 
many  a  generation  had  passed. 

"  For  more  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  the  surplus  cattle 
of  Galloway  had  been  sent  far  into  England,  and  principally  to 
the  counties  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk.  The  polled  beasts  were 
always  favorites  with  the  English  farmers;  they  fattened  as 
kindly  as  the  others,  they  attained  a  larger  size,  their  flesh  lost 
none  of  its  firmness  of  grain,  and  they  exhibited  no  trace  of 
the  wildness  and  dangerous  ferocity  which  were  sometimes  serious 

"  *  Dr.  Johnson  gives  a  curious  derivation  of  the  term  humble.  He  says  of  their 
black  cattle  (Journey  to  the  Western  Isles,  p.  186):  'Some  are  without  horns, 
called  by  the  Scots  humble  cows,  as  we  call  a  bee  a  humble  bee  that  wants  a  sting.'  " 


100  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

objections  to  the  Highland  breed.  Thence  it  happened  that,  in 
process  of  time,  the  horned  breed  decreased,  and  was  at  length 
quite  superseded  by  the  polled ;  except  that,  now  and  then,  to 
show  the  uncertainty  of  the  derivation  of  the  breed,  a  few  of 
the  Galloways  would  have  diminutive  horns,  but  these  were  of 
a  very  curious  nature,  for  they  were  attached  to  the  skin  and 
net  to  the  skull. 

"The  agriculture  of  Galloway,  like  that  of  every  part  of 
Scotland,  was  in  a  sadly  deplorable  state  until  about  1786,  when 
the  Earl  of  Selkirk  became  desirous  of  effecting  some  improve- 
ment in  the  management  of  his  estates,  both  in  the  shire  and 
the  stewartry.  He  was,  however,  too  far  advanced  in  life  to 
engage  personally  in  the  business,  and  he  delegated  the  whole 
management  of  his  property  to  one  of  his  sons,  Lord  Daer. 

"This  young  nobleman  entered  enthusiastically  into  the  views 
of  his  father,  and  although  he  encountered  much  opposition,  and 
many  a  difficulty,  from  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  the  ten- 
antry, he  was  beginning  to  possess  the  satisfaction  of  witnessing 
the  accomplishment  of  several  of  his  projects,  when  he  was 
carried  off  by  consumption,  at  the  age  of  thirty.  His  plans, 
however,  were  adopted  and  zealously  pursued  by  his  brother, 
who  succeeded  to  the  earldom,  and  Galloway  owes  much  of  its 
prosperity  to  these  liberal  and  patriotic  noblemen. 

"In  addition  to  the  Selkirk  family,  we  may  reckon  among  the 
most  zealous  and  successful  improvers  of  the  breed  of  Galloway 
cattle,  the  Hurrays  of  Broughton,  the  Herons  of  Kirrouchtrie, 
the  Gordons  of  Greenlaw,  the  Maxwells  of  Munches,  and  the 
Maitlands  in  the  valley  of  Tarff  in  Kirkcudbright ;  and  in 
Wigton,  the  Earls  of  Galloway,  the  Maxwells  of  Mouneith,  the 
M'Dowals  of  Logan,  the  Cathcarts  of  Genoch,  the  Hathorns  of 
Castle- Wig,  and  the  Stewarts  of  Phygell. 

"For  much  of  the  description  of  the  Galloway  beast,  and  for 
the  greater  part  of  our  account  of  the  management  of  the  cattle 


THE    GALLOWAYS.  101 

in  that  district,  we  are  indebted  to  an  old,  and  skillful,  and  well- 
known  breeder,  whose  name  we  regret  that  we  are  enjoined  to 
withhold;  but  he  will  accept  our  thanks,  and  at  some  future 
period,  possibly,  the  public  will  know  to  whom  we  and  they  are 
much  indebted. 

"The  Galloway  cattle  are  straight  and  broad  in  the  back,  and 
nearly  level  from  the  head  to  the  rump.  They  are  round  in  the 
ribs,  and  also  between  the  shoulders  and  the  ribs,  and  the  ribs 
and  the  loins.  They  are  broad  in  the  loin,  without  any  large 
projecting  hook  bones.  In  roundness  of  barrel,  and  fullness  of 
ribs,  they  will  compare  with  any  breed,  and  also  in  the  propor- 
tion which  the  loins  bear  to  the  hook  bones,  or  protuberances  of 
the  ribs.  The  Rev.  Mr.  Smith,  the  author  of  the  Survey  of 
Galloway,  says  that,  'when  viewed  from  above,  the  whole  body 
appears  beautifully  rounded,  like  the  longitudinal  section  of  a 
roller.'  They  are  long  in  the  quarters  and  ribs,  and  deep  in  the 
chest,  but  not  broad  in  the  twist.  The  slightest  inspection  will 
show  that  there  is  less  space,  between  the  hook  or  hip  bones  and 
the  ribs,  than  in  most  other  breeds,  a  consideration  of  much 
importance,  for  the  advantage  of  length  of  carcass,  consists  in 
the  animal  being  well  ribbed  home,  or  as  little  as  possible  lost  in 
the  flank. 

"The  Galloway  is  short  in  the  leg,  and  moderately  fine  in  the 
shank  bones, — the  happy  medium  seems  to  be  preserved  in  the 
leg,  which  secures  hardihood  and  a  disposition  to  fatten.  With 
the  same  cleanness  and  shortness  of  shank,  there  is  no  breed  so 
large  and  muscular  above  the  knee,  while  there  is  more  room  for 
the  deep,  broad  and  capacious  chest.  He  is  clean,  not  fine  and 
slender,  but  well  proportioned  in  the  neck  and  chaps;  a  thin  and 
delicate  neck  would  not  correspond  with  the  broad  shoulders, 
deep  chest,  and  close,  compact  form  of  the  breed.  The  neck  of 
the  Galloway  bull  is  thick,  almost  to  a  fault.  The  head*  is  rather 
heavy ;  the  eyes  are  not  prominent,  and  the  ears  are  large,  rough, 
and  full  of  long  hairs  on  the  inside. 


102 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


"The  Galloway  is  covered  with  a  loose,  mellow  skin  of  medium 
thickness,  and  which  is  clothed  with  long,  soft,  silky  hair.  The 
skin  is  thinner  than  that  of  the  Leicestershire,  but  not  so  fine  as 
the  hide  of  the  improved  Durham  breed,  but  it  handles  soft  and 
kindly.  Even  on  the  moorland  farms,  where  the  cattle,  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  year,  are  fed  on  the  scantiest  fare,  it  is 
remarkable  how  little  their  hides  indicate  the  privations  they 
endure. 


Plate  12.    Galloway  Bull. 

"The  prevailing  and  the  fashionable  color  is  black — a  few  are 
of  a  dark  brindled  brown,  and  still  fewer  are  speckled  with  white 
spots,  and  some  of  them  are  of  a  dun  or  drab  color,  perhaps 
acquired  from  a  cross  with  the  Suffolk  breed  of  cattle.  Dark 
colors  are  uniformly  preferred,  from  the  belief  that  they  indicate 
hardness  of  constitution.* 

"  *  Mr.  Culley,  who  is  great  authority  in  these  cases,  thus  describes  the  Gallo- 
ways: 'In  most  respects,  except  wanting  horns,  these  cattle  resemble  the  long- 
horns,  both  in  color  and  shape,  only  they  are  shorter  in  their  form,  which  probably 
makes  them  weigh  less.  Their  hides  seem  to  be  a  medium  between  the  long  and  the 
short-horns ;  not  so  thick,  as  the  former,  nor  so  thin  as  the  latter ;  and,  like  the  best 
feeding  kind  of  long-horns,  they  lay  their  fat  upon  the  most  valuable  parts,  and  their 
beef  is  well  marbled  or  mixed  with  fat.  They  are  mostly  bred  upon  the  moors  or 


THE    GALLOWAYS.  103 

"This  cut  represents  the  Galloway  bullock,  almost  ready  for 
the  butcher.  The  beautifully  level  laying  on  of  the  flesh  and 
fat,  will  not  escape  the  notice  of  the  reader. 


Plate  13.    Galloway  Ox. 

"The  breeding  of  cattle  has  been,  from  time  almost  imme- 
morial, the  principal  object  of  pursuit  with  the  Galloway  farmer; 
indeed,  it  is  calculated  that  more  than  thirty  thousand  beasts  are 
sent  to  the  south  every  year.  The  soil  and  face  of  the  country 
are  admirably  adapted  for  this.  The  soil,  although  rich,  is  dry 

hilly  country  in  Galloway,  until  rising  four  or  five  years  old,  when  they  are  taken  to 
the  fairs  in  Norfolk  and  Suffolk,  previous  to  the  turnip  feeding  season,  whence  the 
greater  part  of  them  are  removed  in  the  winter  and  spring  (when  fat)  to  supply  the 
consumption  of  the  capital,  where  they  are  readily  sold,  and  at  high  prices,  for  few 
or  no  cattle  sell  so  high  in  Smithfield  market,  owing  to  their  laying  their  fat  on  the 
most  valuable  parts  ;  and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  to  see  one  of  these  little  bullocks 
outsell  a  coarse  Lincolnshire  bullock,  although  the  latter  is  heavier  by  several 
stones/  " 

"Mr.  Lawrence  says,  in  his  excellent  treatise  on  cattle,  that  'the  pure  Galloway 
breed  exists,  perhaps,  no  where  in  original  purity,  except  in  the  moors  of  Monigaff, 
and  Glenlove,  and  that  these  cattle  are  thinner  in  the  hind  quarters,  than  such  as 
have  been  crossed  by  other  breeds.'  " 


104  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

and  healthy,  particularly  in  the  lower  districts,  the  substratum 
being  either  gravel  or  schistus  rock.  There  are  many  large 
tracts  of  old  grass  land,  that  have  not  been  ploughed  during  any 
one's  recollection,  and  which  still  maintain  their  superior  fertility ; 
while  the  finer  pastures  are  thickly  covered  with  natural  white 
clover,  and  other  valuable  grasses.  The  surface  of  the  ground  is 
irregular,  sometimes  rising  into  small  globular  hills,  and  at  other 
times  into  abrupt  banks,  and  thus  forming  small  fertile  glens,  and 
producing  shelter  for  the  cattle  in  the  winter,  and  early  vegeta- 
tion in  the  spring.  Ill  the  low  districts  there  is  little  frost  and 
snow,  but  the  climate  is  mild  and  rather  moist;  and  thus  a 
languid  vegetation  is  supported  during  the  winter,  and  the  pas- 
tures constantly  retain  their  verdure. 

"The  eaives  are  reared  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  Galloway. 
From  the  time  they  are  dropped,  they  are  permitted  to  suck  the 
mother  more  or  less,  as  long  as  she  gives  milk.*  During  the 
first  four  or  five  months  they  are  allowed,  morning  and  evening, 
a  liberal  supply ;  generally  more  than  half  the  milk  of  the  cow. 
The  dairy-maid  takes  the  milk  from  the  teats  on  one  side,  while 
the  calf  draws  it  at  the  same  time,  and  exclusively,  from  the 
other  side.  When  the  calf  begins  to  graze  a  little,  the  milk  is 
abridged,  by  allowing  the  calf  to  suck  only  a  shorter  time,  and 
lie  is  turned  upon  the  best  young  grass  on  the  farm.  In  winter, 
he  is  uniformly  housed  during  the  night,  and  fed  upon  hay,  with 
a  few  turnips,  or  potatoes;  for  the  breeder  knows  that,  if  he  is 

"  *  Mr.  Culley  gives  a  carious  account  of  this :  '  The  calves,  from  the  time  they  are 
dropped,  until  able  to  support  themselves,  are  allowed  to  run  with  their  dams,  but 
are  prevented  from  sucking  by  means  of  a  small  piece  of  leather,  with  sharp  spikes 
of  iron  fixed  upon  the  outside,  tied  upon  the  upper  part  of  the  calf's  nose,  which,  by 
pricking  the  cow  every  time  the  calf  attempts  to  suck,  prevents  her  from  letting  it, 
until  the  milk-maid  comes,  when  she  takes  off  the  muzzle  from  the  little  animal's 
nose,  and  while  she  strips  two  of  the  teats,  the  calf  takes  care  to  empty  the  other 
two.  As  soon  as  the  maid  has  done,  she  fixes  on  the  instrument  again,  but  it  is 
done  in  such  a  manner  as  not  to  hinder  the  calf  from  feeding  upon  the  grass.' 
This  might  have  been  the  practice  in  Mr.  Culley's  time,  but  little  or  nothing  of  it  is 
seen  now."  [Culley  wrote  in  the  latter  p:irt  of  the  last  century.  L.  P.  A.] 


THE   GALLOWAYS.  105 

neglected  or  stinted  in  his  food  during  the  first  fifteen  months, 
he  does  not  attain  his  natural  size,  nor  does  he  feed  so  well 
afterwards. 

"The  practice  of  allowing  the  calf  to  suck  its  mother,  is 
objected  to  by  some,  and  is  apparently  slovenly,  and  not  econom- 
ical ;  but  the  rearing  of  cattle  is  considered  of  more  importance 
than  the  money  that  could  be  realized  from  the  milk  and  butter 
saved  by  starving  the  calf.  It  is  also  imagined  that  the  act  of 
sucking  produces  a  plentiful  supply  of  saliva,  which  materially 
contributes  to  the  digestion  of  the  milk  and  the  health  of  the 
calf.  The  Galloway  farmer  maintains  that  an  evident  difference 
may  be  perceived  between  the  calf  that  sucks  its  dam,  and 
another  that  is  fed  from  the  pail — the  coat  of  the  former  is  sleek 
and  glossy,  indicating  health ;  while  the  hide  of  the  other  is  dry 
and  hard,  nor  is  the  unthrifty  appearance  removed  until  some 
time  after  the  animal  has  been  weaned  and  fed  wholly  on  grass. 
It  is  also  said  that  a  greater  proportion  of  calves,  fed  from  the 
pail  die  of  stomach  complaints,  than  of  those  that  suck  the  cow. 

"  It  is  desirable  that  the  calves  should  be  dropped  in  the  latter 
part  of  winter  or  in  the  beginning  of  spring.  A  Galloway 
farmer  attaches  a  great  deal  of  importance  to  this,  for  he  finds 
that  nearly  a  year's  growth  and  profit  is  lost  if  the  calf  is  born 
in  the  middle  of  the  summer. 

"  The  regular  Galloway  breeders  rarely  sell  any  of  their  calves 
for  veal;*  that  is  obtained  only  from  those  who  keep  cows  for 

"  *It  is  an  old  proverb  in  Galloway,  that  a  good  farmer  would  rather  kill  his  son 
than  a  calf.  '  The  people  of  this  country  do  very  seldom,  or  rather  not  at  all,  kill 
or  sell  their  calves,  as  they  do  in  other  places,  so  that  it  is  a  rare  thing  to  see  veal, 
except  sometimes,  and  at  some  few  gentlemen's  tables.  They  give  two  reasons  for 
this :  one  is,  because,  they  say,  a  cow  will  not  give  down  her  milk  without  her  calf, 
and  so,  should  they  sell  or  kill  the  calfe,  they  should  want  the  use  of  the  cow ;  but 
this,  I  suppose,  might  be  helped,  would  they  but  traine  up  the  cow  otherwise  at  her 
first  calving.  The  other  reason  is  of  more  weight,  viz.:  since  a  great  part  of  their 
wealth  consists  in  the  product  of  their  cattel,  they  think  it  very  ill  husbandry  to 
sell  that  for  a  shilling,  which,  in  time,  would  yeeld  pounds.'— Symson's  '  Large 
Account  of  Galloway,'  1689." 
5* 


106  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

supplying  the  villagers  with  milk,  and  from  the  few  dairy  farms 
where  cows  are  kept  for  making  cheese. 

"The  best  heifers  are  retained  as  breeders,  in  order  to  supply 
the  place  of  those  tdiose  progeny  is  not  valuable,  or  who  are 
turned  off  on  account  of  their  age.  The  other  female  calves 
are  spayed  during  the  first  year.  The  spayed  heifers  are  usually 
smaller  than  the  bullocks,  but  they  arrive  sooner  at  maturity ; 
they  fatten  readily ;  their  meat  is  considered  more  delicate,  and 
in  proportion  to  their  size,  they  sell  at  higher  prices  than  the 
bullocks. 

"  Mr.  Culley  says,  '  In  Galloway,  they  spay  more  heifers  than 
perhaps  in  all  the  island  besides,  and  in  this  too  their  method 
is  different  from  any  other  part  I  am  acquainted  with,  for  they 
do  not  castrate  them  until  they  are  about  a  year  old,  whereas  in 
every  other  place  I  know,  the  heifer  calves  are  spayed  from  one 
to  three  months  old ;  and  it  is  now  generally  admitted  as  the 
safest  practice  to  castrate  calves  and  lambs,  male  or  female, 
while  very  young.'  They  are  now  generally  spayed  much 
earlier  than  they  used  to  be,  but  some  of  the  breeders  adhere  to 
the  old  custom. 

"The  young  cattle  are  rarely  housed  after  the  first  winter; 
they  are  on  their  pastures  day  and  night,  but  in  cold  weather, 
they  receive  hay  and  straw  in  the  fields,  supporting  themselves 
otherwise  on  the  foggage  left  unconsumed  after  the  summer  grass. 
Many  of  the  farmers  are  beginning  to  learn  their  true  interest,  and 
the  pastures  are  not  so  much  overstocked  in  summer  as  they  used 
to  be,  and  a  portion  of  herbage  is  left  for  the  cattle  in  the  winter; 
therefore,  although  the  beasts  are  not  in  high  condition  in  the 
spring,  they  had  materially  increased  in  size,  and  are  in  a  proper 
state  to  be  transferred  to  the  rich  pastures  of  the  lower  district. 

"The  following  were  the  proportions  of  a  fat  heifer  of  this 
breed :  Height  of  shoulder,  5ft.  2in.;  length  from  nose  to  rump, 
10ft.  4in.;  width  across  the  hip,  2ft.  Gin. ;  across  the  middle  of  tho 


THE    GALLOWAYS. 


107 


back,  3ft.;  across  the  shoulders,  2ft.  4in.;  girth  of  leg  below  knee, 
8in.;  distance  of  breast  from  the  ground,  1ft.  3)£in.;  width 
between  fore  legs,  1ft.  Sin.  The  live  weight  was  1520  pounds. 
She  was  exhibited  at  the  Smith  field  cattle  show,  and  her  portrait 
engraved  under  the  sanction  of  the  club. 


Plate  14.    Galloway  Cow,  four  years  old. 

This  cut  is  an  accurate  portrait  of  a  beautiful  young  Galloway 
cow,  in  Canada  West,  as  taken  by  our  artist. 

"  The  Galloway  cows  are  not  good  milkers ;  but  although  the 
quantity  of  the  milk  is  not  great,  it  is  rich  in  quality,  and  yields 
a  large  proportion  of  butter.  A  cow  that  gives  from  twelve  to 
sixteen  quarts  of  milk  per  day,  is  considered  a  very  superior 
milker,  and  that  quantity  produces  more  than  a  pound  and  a  half 
of  butter.  The  average  milk,  however,  of  a  Galloway  cow, 
cannot  be  reckoned  at  more  than  six  or  eight  quarts  per  day, 
during  the  five  summer  months  after  feeding  her  calf.  During 
the  next  four  months  she  does  not  give  more  than  half  of  that 
quantity,  and  for  two  or  three  months  she  is  dry. 


108  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"A  bullock  well  fattened,  will  weigh  from  560  to  840  pounds, 
net,  at  three  or  three  and  a  half  years  old,  and  some  have  been 
fed  to  more  than  1400  pounds  at  five  years  old. 

"There  is,  perhaps,  no  breed  of  cattle  which  can  be  more 
truly  said  to  be  indigenous  to  the  country,  and  incapable  of 
improvement  by  any  foreign  cross,  than  the  Galloways.  The 
short-horns  almost  every  where  else  have  improved  the  cattle  of 
the  districts  to  which  they  have  traveled.  They  have,  at  least 
in  the  first  cross,  produced  manifest  improvement,  although  the 
advantage  has  not  often  been  prolonged  much  beyond  the 
second  generation;  but  even  in  the  first  cross,  the  short-horns 
have  done  little  good  in  Galloway,  and,  as  a  permanent  mixture, 
the  choicest  southern  bulls  have  manifestly  failed.  The  intelli- 
gent Galloway  breeder  is  now  perfectly  satisfied  that  his  stock 
can  only  be  improved  by  adherence  to  the  pure  breed,  and  by 
care  in  the  selection. 

"The  Galloway  cattle  are  generally  very  docile.  This  is  a 
most  valuable  point  about  them  in  every  respect.  It  is  rare  to 
find  even  a  bull  furious  or  troublesome." 

After  this  minute  and  excellent  description  by  Youatt,  little 
further  need  be  said  of  them  at  home,  and  we  proceed  to  speak 
somewhat  of 

THE    GALLOWAYS    IN    AMERICA. 

Whether  they  were  imported  at  an  early  day  into  this  country, 
in  their  purity  of  blood,  we  have  no  knowledge;  but  as  Yonatt 
says:  "So  late  as  the  middle  of  the  last  centurv,  (1750,)  the 
great  part  of  the  Galloways  were  horned,"  (which  we  somewhat 
doubt,)  the  probabilities  of  their  coming  here  are  light.  It  is 
certain,  however,  that  polled  cattle  came  over  with  some  of  the 
early  importations,  as  such  have  been  known  here  for  more  than 
a  century  past.  As  they  were  red,  spotted,  and  of  all  colors 
usual  among  our  native  cattle,  they  probably  were  picked  up 
from  the  polled  herds  of  Norfolk  or  Suffolk,  in  England,  where 


THE    GALLOWAYS.  109 

they  have  abounded  for  centuries.  In  the  year  1837,  we  saw  a 
very  fine,  black,  polled  Galloway  cow,  at  the  General  Hospital, 
in  Philadelphia.  How  she  came  there,  we  could  not  ascertain. 

About  the  year  1850,  some  enterprising  Scotch  farmers  made 
the  first  importations  of  Galloways  into  the  vicinity  of  Toronto, 
in  Canada  West.  They  already  had  the  short-horns  there,  of 
high  quality,  imported  many  years  before,  and  some  of  them 
were  kept  and  much  liked  by  the  same  farmers  who  brought  out 
the  Galloways.  But  the  latter  were  the  cattle  of  their  native 
land,  and  their  attachment  to  them  there  was  too  strong  to  be 
overlooked  or  forgotten  in  their  new  homes.  The  cattle  pos- 
sessed certain  qualities  which  they  found  here  in  no  other  race, 
and  with  a  characteristic  love  of  their  native  land,  as  they  loved 
the  poetry  of  Burns,  and  repeated  his  songs,  they  also  longed 
for,  and  sought  the  cattle  of  their  native  hills  and  heather. 
There  must  have  been  several  different  importations,  for  in  the 
year  1857,  we  saw  upwards  of  forty  of  them  exhibited  by  com- 
peting owners  at  a  Provincial  agricultural  show,  at  Brantford, 
and  have  since  met  them  in  equal  numbers  at  other  shows  in  the 
Province. 

They  were  fine  cattle — full,  round,  and  comely  in  form ;  robust 
in  appearance;  showing  a  ready  aptitude  to  take  on  flesh;  elas- 
tic to  the  touch ;  a  good  skin,  with  long,  thick,  wavy  hair ;  of 
placid  look,  and  apparently  kindly  temper.  In  addition  to  these 
good  qualities,  some  of  their  owners  declared  them  to  be  "good 
milkers."  But  their  indications  in  that  line  did  not  show  it, 
although,  in  practice,  there  may  have  been  exceptions  to  what 
we  thought  indicated  an  opposite  tendency.  Their  colors  were 
black,  generally,  although  we  found  one  or  two  dull  reds,  or 
duns,  and  a  brindle  (black  and  red  mixed,)  among  them — which 
colors,  according  to  Youatt,  are  admissible.  Taken  altogether, 
the  cattle  fully  answered  his  description. 


110  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

That  they  are  well  adapted  to  the  soil  and  climate  of  Canada, 
and  of  the  Northern  and  Middle  States  of  America,  we  have  no 
doubt,  as  a  grazing  beast ;  but,  for  the  dairy,  an  intimate  and 
persistent  trial  of  their  qualities  in  that  line,  will  only  convince 
us  of  their  superiority,  or  even  average  excellence  with  our  own 
good  dairy  cows.  In  the  hilly  and  more  rugged  parts  of  our 
country,  adapted  for  the  rearing  and  grazing  of  the  lighter  and 
more  active  breeds  of  cattle,  they  must  be  a  desirable  stock  to 
introduce,  and  as  such,  we  consider  them  entitled  to  confidence. 

Their  lack  of  horn,  is  by  some  thought  a  point  of  great  merit, 
as  rendering  them  more  peaceable  in  a  herd,  and  harmless  to  do 
injury.  It  may  be  so ;  but  if  those  charitable  people  could  once 
see  a  fight  between  one  of  them  and  a  full-horned  beast,  they 
would  soon  find  that  their  conical  skulls  can  butt  as  hard,  and 
force  as  vigorous  a  push  as  the  others;  and  although  they  can 
inflict  no  injury  by  the  horn,  the  skull  is  as  impenetrable  and 
actively  managed  as  the  most  enthusiastic  admirer  of  adroit 
"hits  "  would  desire.  The  fact  is,  a  Galloway  can  fight,  either 
in  defence  or  attack,  as  well  as  a  horned  beast,  and  the  safety  of 
him  who  handles  them  lies  more  in  their  docility  of  temper  and 
good  training,  than  in  their  inability  to  inflict  injury. 

The  peculiar  shape  of  the  skull  is  a  prominent  point  in  deter- 
mining the  purity  of  blood,  and  high  breeding  in  the  Galloway. 
It  should  be  high,  and  pointed  round  like  the  head  of  a  doe, 
with  no  place  for  a  horn  to  plant  itself,  and  a  thick  and  long 
growth  of  hair,  almost  shaggy,  in  front.  In  fact,  an  expert  in 
Galloways  will  detect  a  deficient  or  false  point  in  them,  as  readily 
as  the  most  fastidious  judge  would  do  in  a  short-horn  or  a 
Devon. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    AYRSHIRES. 

THE  third,  and  with  dairymen,  the  most  important  variety 
among  the  Scottish  cattle,  now  comes  under  our  notice.  All 
the  authorities  respecting  the  origin  and  history  of  this  noted 
breed,  are  condensed  and  fully  treated  in  Youatt.  We  have  read 
and  studied  several  English  and  Scottish  writers  on  them,  and 
heard  tales  innumerable ;  but  as  they  more  or  less  quote  Youatt, 
and  his  authorities,  we  conclude  to  make  him  responsible  for 
them  all,  and  add  only  such  observations,  as  our  own  personal 
acquaintance  of  some  twenty-five  years  with  them  has  made  us 
familiar.  The  increasing  interest  with  which  the  Ayrshire  -is 
regarded  in  this  country,  will  justify  what  we  have  thought 
proper  to  insert  from  that  generally  correct  author : 

"The  county  of  Ayrshire  extends  along  the  eastern  coast  of 
the  Firth  of  Clyde,  and  the  North  Channel  from  Renfrew  to 
Wigtonshire,  by'the  former  of  which  it  is  bordered  on  the  north, 
and  by  the  latter  on  the  south,  while  it  has  Kircudbright,  Dum- 
fries, and  Lanark  on  the  east.  It  is  necessary  to  mention  this, 
in  order  that  the  reader  may  better  comprehend  the  rapid  distri- 
bution of  the  Ayrshire  cattle  over  all  these  districts.  The 
climate  is  moist  but  mild ;  and  the  soil,  with  its  produce,  is 
calculated  to  render  it  the  finest  dairy  country  in  Scotland,  and 
equal  perhaps  to  any  in  Great  Britain. 

"Mr.  Aiton,  in  his  'Treatise  on  the  Dairy  Breed  of  Cows,' 
thus  describes  the  Ayrshire  cattle:  'The  shapes  most  approved 
of  in  the  dairy  breed,  are  as  follows : 


112  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"  'Head  small,  but  rather  long  and  narrow  at  the  muzzle;  the 
eye  small,  but  smart  and  lively ;  the  horns  small,  clear,  crooked, 
and  their  roots  at  considerable  distance  from  each  other;  neck 
long  and  slender,  tapering  towards  the  head,  with  no  loose  skin 
below  ;  shoulders  thin ;  fore-quarters  light ;  hind-quarters  large  ; 
lack  straight,  broad  behind,  the  joints  rather  loose  and  open ; 
carcass  deep,  and  pelvis  capacious,  and  wide  over  the  hips,  with 
round  fleshy  buttocks.*  Tail  long  and  small;  legs  small  and 
short,  with  firm  joints;  udder  capacious,  broad  and  square, 
stretching  forward,  and  neither  fleshy,  low  hung  nor  loose ;  the 
milk  veins  large  and  prominent;  teats  short,  all  pointing  outwards, 
and  at  considerable  distance  from  each  other;  skin  thin  and 
loose;  hair  soft  and  woolly.  The  head,  bones,  horns^  and  all 
parts  of  least  value,  small ;  and  the  general  figure  compact  and 
well  proportioned.' 

"Mr.  Aiton  also  informs  us,  that  '  the  Ayrshire  farmers  prefer 
their  dairy-bulls,  according  to  the  feminine  aspect  of  their  heads 
and  necks ;  and  wish  them  not  round  behind,  but  broad  at  the 
hook-bones  and  hips,  and  full  in  the  flanks. 

"  'The  qualities  of  a  cow  are  of  great  importance.  Tameness 
and  docility  of  temper  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  a  milk  cow. 
Some  degree  of  hardiness,  a  sound  constitution,  and  a  moderate 
degree  of  life  and  spirits,  are  qualities  to  be  wished  for  in  a  dairy 
cow,  and  what  those  of  Ayrshire  generally  possess.  The  most 
valuable  quality  which  a.  dairy  cow  can  possess,  is,  that  she  yields 
much  milk,  and  that  of  an  oily  or  butyraceous,  or  caseous  nature, 
and  that  after  she  has  yielded  very  large  quantities  of  milk  for 
several  years,  she  shall  be  as  valuable  for  beef  as  any  other 
breed  of  cows  known  ;  her  fat  shall  be  much  more  mixed  through 
the  whole  flesh,  and  she  shall  fatten  faster  than  any  other.'" 

"  *  Mr.  Rankine  very  properly  remarks,  that,  '  compared  with  other  improved 
breeds,  the  thighs,  or  what  is  called  the  twist  of  the  Ayrshire  cow,  are  thin.  She 
i*,  characteristic-ally,  not  a.  fleshy  animal.'  " 


THE    AYRSHIRE.?. 


113 


We  give  a  cut  of  the  most  fashionable  modern  style  of  the 
Ayrshire  cow,  of  late  importation,  drawn  from  life. 


Plate  15.    Ayrshire  Cow. 

"  The  origin  of  the  Ayrshire  cow,  is  even  at  the  present  day 
a  matter  of  dispute ;  all  that  is  certainly  known  about  her,  is, 
that  a  century  ago,  (1733,)  there  was  no  such  breed  in  Cunning- 
ham, or  Ayrshire,  or  Scotland.  Did  the  Ayrshire  cattle  arise 
entirely  from  a  careful  selection  of  the  best  of  the  native  breed  ? 
— if  they  did,  it  is  a  circumstance  unparalleled  in  the  history  of 
agriculture.  The  native  breed  may  be  ameliorated  by  careful 
selection,  its  value  may  be  incalculably  increased ;  some  good 
qualities — some  of  its  best  qualities — may  be  for  the  first  time 
developed ;  but  yet  there  will  be  some  resemblance  to  the  origi- 
nal stock,  and  the  more  we  examine  the  animal,  the  more  clearly 
we  can  trace  out  the  characteristic  points  of  the  ancestor, 
although  every  one  of  them  improved. 

"Mr.  Aiton  gives  the  following  description  of  the  Ayrshire 
cattle,  (1783,)  fifty  years  ago:  'The  cows  kept  in  the  districts 


114  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  Kyle  and  Cunningham,  were  of  a  diminutive  size,  ill-fed, 
ill-shaped,  and  they  yielded  but  a  scanty  return  in  milk ;  they 
were  mostly  of  a  black  color,  with  large  stripes  of  white  along 
the  chine,  or  ridge  of  their  backs,  about  their  flanks,  and  on  their 
faces.  Their  horns  were  high  and  crooked,  having  deep  ringlets 
at  the  root,  the  plainest  proof  that  the  cattle  were  but  scantily 
fed ;  the  chine  of  their  backs  stood  up  high  and  narrow ;  their 
sides  were  lank,  short  and  thin ;  their  hides  thick  and  adhering 
to  the  bones ;  their  hair  was  coarse  and  open,  and  few  of  them 
yielded  more  than^six  or  eight  quarts  of  milk  per  day,  when  in 
their  best  plight;  or  weighed,  when  fat,  more  than  from  300  to 
400  pounds  avoirdupois,  sinking  offal.' 

"He  very  naturally  adds — 'It  was  impossible  that  these  cattle, 
fed  as  they  then  were,  could  be  of  great  weight,  well-shaped,  or 
yield  much  milk.  Their  only  food  in  winter  and  spring,  was 
oat  straw,  and  what  they  could  pick  up  in  the  fields,  to  which 
they  were  turned  out  almost  every  day,  with  a  mash  of  a  little 
corn  with  chaff  daily,  for  a  few  weeks  after  calving,  and  their 
pasture  in  summer  was  of  the  very  worst  quality;  and  that 
coarse  pasture  was  so  overstocked,  and  eaten  so  bare,  that  the 
cattle  were  half-starved.' " 

"  If  Mr.  Aiton's  description  of  the  present  improved  Ayrshire 
is  correct,  the  breed  is  very  much  changed,  and  yet  there  is  so 
much  indistinct  resemblance,  that  a  great  deal  of  it  must  have 
been  done  by  careful  selection,  from  among  the  native  cattle,  and 
better  feeding  and  treatment ;  but  when  we  look  closer  into  the 
matter,  the  shortness,  or  rather  diminutiveness  of  the  horns,  their 
width  of  base  and  awkward  setting  on — the  peculiar  tapering 
towards  the  muzzle  ;  the  narrowing  at  the  girth  ;  the  bellying ; 
and  the  prominence  of  all  the  bones — these  are  features  which  it 
would  seem  impossible  for  any  selection  from  the  native  breed  to 
give.  "While,  therefore,  the  judge  of  cattle  will  trace  the  features 
of  the  old  breed,  he  will  suspect,  what  general  tradition  confirms, 


THE    AYRSHIRKS. 


115 


that  it  was  a  fortunate  cross,  or  a  succession  of  crosses  with  some 
foreign  stock,  and  that,  probably,  it  was  the  Holderness  (an  old 
variety  of  the  short-horns — great  milkers,)  that  helped  to  pro- 
duce the  improved  Cunningham  cattle. 

We  give  a  correct  cut  of  a  modern  Ayrshire  bull,  of  late 
importation,  drawn  from  life,  in  which  will  be  seen  more  round- 
ness and  symmetry  of  style,  than  in  the  bulls  of  even  twenty 
years  ago. 


Plate  ]G.    Ayrshire  Bull. 

"  In  many  a  district,  the  attempt  to  introduce  the  Teeswater 
breed,  (short-horns,)  or  to  establish  a  cross  from  it,  had  palpably 
failed,  for  the  soil  and  the  climate  suited  only  the  hardihood  of 
the  Highlander;  but  here  was  a  mild  climate — a  dairy  country; 
the  Highlander  was  in  a  manner  out  of  his  place;  he  had 
degenerated,  and  the  milking  properties  of  the  Holderness,  and 
her  capability  of  ultimately  fattening,  although  slowly,  and  at 
considerable  expense,  happily  amalgamated  with  his  hardihood, 
and  disposition  to  fatten,  and  there  resulted  a  breed,  bearing 
about  it  the  stamp  of  its  progenitors,  and,  to  a  very  considerable 
degree,  the  good  qualities  of  both. 


IK)  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"Mr.  Robertson,  in  his  'Rural  Recollections,' says:  'Who 
introduced  the  present  breed  is  not  very  precisely  ascertained, 
but  the  late  Colonel  Fullarton,  whose  account  of  '  The  Husbandry 
of  Ayrshire,'  which  was  published  in  1793,  and  whose  authority 
is  of  considerable  weight  in  everything  relating  to  it,  states, 
that  a  gentleman  of  long  experience,  Mr.  Bruce  Campbell, 
asserts  that  this  breed  was  introduced  by  the  late  Earl  of 
Marchmont.'  The  Earl  of  Marchmont,  alluded  to,  must  have 
been  that  Alexander  Hume  Campbell,  who  married  Margaret 
Campbell,  heiress  of  Assnoch,  in  the  same  parish,  and  who 
became  Earl  of  Marchmont  in  1724,  and  died  in  1740.  The 
introduction  then,  of  this  dairy  stock,  must  have  happened  be- 
tween these  two  dates,  and  so  far  corresponds  with  the  tradition- 
ary account. 

"  Mr.  Robertson  goes  on  to  say  :  '  From  what  particular  part 
of  the  country  they  came,  there  appears  no  evidence.  My  own 
conjecture  is,  that  they  are  either  of  the  Holderness  breed,  or 
derived  from  it;  judging  from  the  varied  color,  or,  from  some- 
what better  evidence,  the  small  head  and  slender  neck,  in  which 
they  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  them.'* 

"  These  cattle,  from  which,  by  crosses  with  the  native  breed, 
the  present  improved  Ayrshire  arose,  were  first  introduced  on 

"  *  Some  breeders,  however,  have  maintained  that  they  were  produced  from  the 
native  cow,  crossed  by  the  Alderney  bull.  It  requires  but  one  moment's  inspection 
of  the  animals,  to  convince  us  that  this  supposition  is  altogether  erroneous. 

"In  Rawlin's  -Complete  Cow-doctor,'  published  at  Glasgow,  in  1794,  the  follow- 
ing account  is  given  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle  at  that  time :  '  They  have  another  breed 
called  the  Dunlop  cows,  which  are  allowed  to  be  the  best  race  for  yielding  milk  in 
Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  not  only  for  large  quantities,  but  also  for  richness  in 
quality.  It  is  said  to  be  a  mixture",  by  bulls  brought  from  the  Island  of  Alderney, 
with  their  own  cows.  Theae  are  of  a  small  size.  These  are  allowed  to  yield  more 
milk  daily  than  from  any  other  kind  of  cattle,  when  a  just  comparison  is  made  of 
their  size  and  pasture.  They  are  much  leaner  and  thinner  than  any  other  of  the 
Scotch  or  English  breeds,  when  in  the  best  grass.  They  are  not  deemed  a  race  of 
handsome  cattle,  but  rather  the  contrary,  being  shaped  more  like  the  (common)  Dutch 
breed  than  any  of  the  natives  of  Scotland.  Their  horns  are  small,  and  stand  remark- 
ably awkward  ;  their  color  is  generally  pied,  or  of  a  sandy  red,  varying  in  this  from 
all  other  races.' " 


THE    AYKSHIRES.  117 

Lord  Marchmout's  estates  in  Berwickshire.  They  were  soon 
afterwards  carried  to  the  farms  belonging  to  the  same  nobleman, 
at  Sornbergh,  in  Kyle.  A  bull  of  the  new  stock  was  sold  to  Mr. 
Hamilton  of  Sundrum ;  then  Mr.  Dunlop,  in  Cunningham,  im- 
ported some  of  the  Dutch  cattle,  and  their  progeny  was  long 
afterwards  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  Dunlop  cows.  These 
were  the  first  of  the  improved,  or  stranger  breed,  that  reached 
the  baillery  of  Cunningham.  Mr.  Orr,  about  the  year  1767, 
brought  to  his  estate  of  Grongar,  near  Kilmarnock,  some  fine  milch 
cows  of  a  larger  size  than  any  which  had  been  on  the  farm.  It 
was  not,  however,  until  about  1780,  that  this  improved  breed 
might  be  said  to  be  duly  estimated,  or  generally  established  in 
that  part  of  Ayrshire,  although  they  had  begun  to  extend 
beyond  the  Irvine,  into  Kyle.  About  1790,  according  to  Mr. 
Aiton,  Mr.  Fulton  from  Blith,  carried  them  first  into  Carrick,  and 
Mr.  Wilson,  of  Kilpatrick,  was  the  first  who  took  them  to  the 
southern  parts  of  that  district.  So  late  as  1804,  they  were  intro- 
duced on  the  estate  of  Penmore,  on  the  Stonchar,  and  they  are 
now  the  established  cattle  of  Ayrshire ;  they  are  increasing  in  the 
neighboring  counties,  and  have  found  their  way  to  most  parts  of 
Britain. 

"  The  breed  has  much  improved  since  Mr.  Aiton  described  it, 
and  is  short  in  the  leg;  the  neck  a  little  thicker  at  the  shoulder, 
but  finely  shaped  towards  the  head  ;  the  horns  smaller  than  those 
of  the  Highlanders,  but  clear  and  smooth,  pointing  forwards,  and 
turning  upwards,  and  tapering  to  a  point.  They  are  deep  in  the 
carcass,  but  not  round  and  ample,  and  especially  not  so  in  the 
loins  and  haunches.  Some,  however,  have  suspected,  and  not 
without  reason,  that  an  attention  to  the  shape  and  beauty,  and 
an  attempt  to  produce  fat  and  sleeky  cattle,  which  may  be 
admired  at  the  show,  has  a  tendency  to  improve  what  is  only 
their  second  point — their  quality  as  grazing  cattle — and  that  at 
the  hazard  or  the  certainty  of  diminishing  their  value  as  milkers. 


118  AMEKICAN    CATTLE. 

"  We  agree  with  Mr.  Aiton,  that  the  excellency  of  a  dairy 
cow  is  estimated  by  the  quantity  and  the  quality  of  her  milk. 
The  quantity  yielded  by  the  Ayrshire  cow  is,  considering  her  size, 
very  great.  Five  gallons  daily,  for  two  or  three  months  after 
calving,  may  be  considered  as  not  more  than  an  average  quantity. 
Three  gallons  daily  will  be  given  for  the  next  three  months,  and 
one  gallon  and  a  half  during  the  succeeding  four  months.  This 
would  amount  to  more  than  850  gallons;  but,  allowing  for  some 
unproductive  cows,  600  gallons  per  year  may  be  considered  as 
the  average  quantity  obtained  annually  from  each  cow. 

"  The  quality  of  the  milk  is  estimated  by  the  quantity  of  butter 
or  cheese  that  it  will  yield.  Three  gallons  and  a  half  of  this  milk 
will  yield  about  a  pound  and  a  half  avoirdupois,  of  butter.  An 
Ayrshire  cow  may  be  reckoned  to  yield  257  English  pounds  of 
butter  per  annum,  or  about  five  pounds  per  week  all  the  year 
round,  beside  the  value  of  the  butter-milk  and  her  £alf. 

"  When  the  calculation  is  formed,  according  to  the  quantity  of 
cheese  that  is  usually  produced,  the  following  will  be  the  result : 
— twenty-eight  gallons  of  milk,  with  the  cream,  will  yield  24 
pounds  of  sweet-milk  cheese,  or  514  pounds  avoirdupois  per 
annum,  beside  the  whey  and  the  calf.* 

"This  is  certainly  an  extraordinary  quantity  of  butter  and 
cheese,  and  fully  establishes  the  reputation  of  the  Ayrshire  cow, 
so  far  as  the  dairy  is  concerned,  f 

"  *  A  Scotch  pint  is  nearly  two  English  quarts.  An  Ayrshire  pound  consists  of  21 
ounces,  and  sixteen  of  these  pounds,  or  24  pounds  avoirdupois,  make  a  stone.  Mr. 
Fullarton,  in  his  '  Statistical  Account  of  Dulry,'  in  this  county,  states  that  in  1794, 
before  the  establishment  of  this  improved  Ayrshire  cow,  each  cow  would  yield,  on 
the  average,  in  the  course  of  the  season,  18  stones,  or  288  Ibs.  of  sweet-milk  cheese." 

"tin  some  experiments  conducted  at  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield's  dairy,  at  Bradley- 
Hall  farm,  it  appeared  that,  in  the  height  of  the  season,  the  Holderness  would 
yield  7  gallons  and  a  quart ;  the  long-horu  and  the  Alderney,  4  gallons  3  quarts;  and 
the  Devon,  4  gallons  1  pint  per  day  ;  and  when  this  was  made  into  butter,  the  result 
was,  from  the  Holderness,  38%  ounces ;  from  the  Devon,  28  ounces  ;  and  from  the 
Alderney,  25  ounces.  The  Ayrshire  yields  5  gallons  per  day,  and  from  that  is  pro- 
duced 34  ounces  of  butter." 


THE    AYKSH1RES.  119 

"Mr.  Aiton  rates  the  profit  of  the  Ayrshire  cow  at  a  high 
value.  He  says:  'To  sum  up  all  in  one  sentence,  I  now  repeat 
that  hundreds  and  thousands  of  the  best  Scotch  dairy  cows,  when 
they  are  in  their  best  condition  and  well  fed,  yield  at  the  rate  of 
2000  Scotch  pints  of  milk  (1000  gallons)  in  one  year;  that,  in 
general,  from  1/4  to  8  pints  (3%  to  4  gallons)  of  their  milk  will 
yield  a  pound  of  butter,  county  weight  (1/4  pounds  avoirdupois)  ; 
that  55  pints  (27/£  gallons)  of  their  milk  will  produce  one  stone 
and  a  half,  imperial  weight,  of  full  milk-cheese. 

"Mr.  Raukine,  the  author  of  an  excellent  report  of  a  Kyle 
farm,  and  some  of  whose  observations,  with  which  we  have  been 
privately  favored,  we  have  embodied  in  our  account  of  the  Ayr- 
shire cattle,  very  justly,  we  think,  maintains  that  Mr.  Alton's 
statement  is  far  too  high,  and  his  calculations  not  well  founded. 

"'I  quote  with  confidence,'  Mr.  Rankine  proceeds,  'the 
answers  to  queries  which  I  sent  to  two  individuals.  The  first  is 
a  man  of  superior  intelligence  and  accuracy,  and  who  has  devoted 
himself  very  much  to  dairy  husbandry.  He  keeps  between 
twenty  and  thirty  cows,  and  his  stock  has  for  years  been  the 
handsomest  I  ever  saw,  and  his  farm  being  close  to  a  small  town, 
he  had  every  inducement  to  keep  them  in  the  highest  condition 
that  is  requisite  for  giving  the  largest  produce  in  milk.  He  states 
that,  at  the  best  of  the  season,  the  average  milk  from  each  is  9 
Scots  pints  (4>£  gallons,)  and  in  a  year,  1300  Scots  pints  (650 
gallons) ;  that  in  the  summer  season,  64  pints  (32  gallons)  of 
entire  milk  will  make  an  Ayrshire  stone  (24  pounds)  of  cheese ; 
and  96  pints  (48  gallons)  of  skimmed  milk  will  produce  the  same 
quantity;  and  that  180  pints  (90  gallons)  will  make  24  pounds 
of  butter. 

"  'Another  farmer,  in  a  different  district  of  this  county,  and 
who  keeps  a  stock  of  between  thirty  and  forty  very  superior  cows, 
and  always  in  condition,  states  that  the  average  produce  of  each  is 
1375  pints  (6S7>2  gallons).  My  belief,  on  the  whole,  is,  that 


120  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

although  there  may  be  Ayrshire  cows  capable  of  giving  900  gal- 
lons in  the  year,  it  would  be  difficult  to  bring  half  a  score  of  them 
together ;  and  that  in  stocks  of  the  greater  number,  most  care- 
fully selected,  and  liberally  fed,  from  650  to  700  gallons  is  the 
very  highest  produce  of  each  in  the  year.' 

"Mr.  Rankine  concludes  with  giving  his  experience  on  his 
own  farm,  the  soil  of  which  is  of  an  inferior  nature,  arid  on 
which  his  cows  produced  about  550  gallons  per  cow. 

"We  have  entered  at  considerable  length  into  this,  because  it 
is  of  some  importance  to  ascertain  the  real  value  and  produce  of 
this  celebrated  Scottish  breed  of  cattle,  and  also  to  correct  an 
error  in  an  agricultural  work,  deservedly  a  standard  one  in  Scot- 
land, and  which  may  otherwise  be  implicitly  relied  on. 

"The  fattening  properties  of  the  Ayrshire  cattle  we  believe  to 
be  a  little  exaggerated.  They  will  feed  kindly  and  profitably, 
and  their  meat  will  be  good.  They  will  fatten  on  farms  and  in 
districts  where  others  could  not  be  made  to  thrive  at  all,  except 
partly  or  principally  supported  by  artificial  food.  They  unite, 
perhaps,  to  a  greater  degree  than  any  other  breed,  the  supposed 
incompatible  properties  of  yielding  a  great  deal  of  milk  and 
beef.  It  is,  however,  as  Mr.  Rankine  well  observes,  on  the 
inferior  soil  and  the  moist  climate  of  Ayrshire,  and  the  west  of 
Scotland,  that  their  superiority  as  milkers  is  most  remarkable. 
On  their  natural  food,  of  poor  quality,  they  give  milk  abundantly 
and  long,  and  often  until  within  a  few  days  of  calving.  In  their 
own  country,  a  cow  of  a  fleshy  make,  and  which  seldom  proves 
a  good  milker,  may  be  easily  raised  from  560  to  700  pounds,  and 
bullocks  of  three  years  old  are  brought  to  weigh  from  700  to  840 
pounds  weight.  There  is  a  lurking  tendency  to  fatten  about 
them,  which  good  pasture  will  bring  to  light;  so  that  when  the 
Ayrshire  cow  is  sent  to  England,  she  loses  her  superiority  as  a 
milker,  and  begins  to  accumulate  flesh.  On  this  account  it  is 
that  the  English  dealers  who  purchase  the  Ayrshire  coics,  generally 


THK    AYBSIIIBES.  121 

select  the  coarsest  animals  they  can  find,  in  order  to  avoid  the  con- 
sequence of  the  change  of  climate  and  food.  It  is  useless  to 
exaggerate  the  qualities  of  any  cattle,  and  it  cannot  be  denied, 
that  even  in  this  tendency  to  fatten  when  their  milk  begins  to 
fail,  or  which  often  causes  it  to  fail,  the  Ayrshires  must  yield  to 
their  forefathers,  the  Highlanders,  and  also  to  their  neighbors, 
the  Galloways,  when  put  on  a  poor .  soil ;  and  they  will  be  left 
considerably  behind  their  short-horn  sires,  when  transplanted  to 
luxuriant  pasture.  It  will  be  long,  perhaps,  before  they  will  be 
favorites  with  the  butchers,  for  the  fifth  quarter  will  not  usually 
weigh  well  in  them.  Their  fat  is  mingled  with  the  flesh,  rather 
than  separated  in  the  form  of  tallow ;  yet  this  would  give  a  more 
beautiful  appearance  to  the  meat,  and  should  enhance  its  price  to 
the  consumer. 

"Two  circumstances,  however,  may  partially  account  for  their 
not  being  thought  to  succeed  so  well  when  grazed:  they  are 
not  able  to  travel  so  far  on  the  same  keeping,  as  the  Highland 
cattle  can  do;  and,  from  their  great  value  as  milkers,  they  are 
often  kept  until  they  are  too  old  to  fatten  to  advantage,  or  for 
their  beef  to  become  of  the  best  quality. 

"The  advantage  of  feeding  well  in  winter,  and  sending  a  cow 
to  grass  in  good  condition,  is  now  generally  understood;  but  the 
defect  in  practice  is,  that  what  can  be  afforded  to  the  cow  in  this 
way,  is  given  only  while  they  are  in  milk,  or  when  they  calve. 
The  return  is,  indeed,  rendered  more  immediate,  but  it  would  be 
still  more  advantageous  if  a  fair  portion  of  the  proper  winter's 
food  were  given  to  the  dairy  cows,  after  they  were  dry  of  milk. 

"  Mr.  Aiton  gives  a  satisfactory  account  of  the  rearing  of  dairy 
stock.  They  are  selected  from  parents  of  the  best  quality,  and 
few  are  brought  up  that  are  not  of  the  fashionable  color.  Those 
are  preferred  that  are  dropped  about  the  end  of  March,  or  the 
beginning  of  April,  as  they  are  ready  for  the  early  grass,  and 
attain  some  size  before  winter. 
6 


122  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"Calves  reared  for  dairy  stock  are  not  allowed  to  suck  their 
dams,  but  are  always  fed  by  the  hand  from  a  dish.  They  are 
generally  fed  on  milk,  only  for  the  first  four,  five  or  six  weeks, 
and  are  then  allowed  from  four  to  five  quarts  of  new  milk,  twice 
in  the  twenty-four  hours.  (Mr.  Rankine  says  'from  10  to  12 
quarts.')  Some  never  give  them  any  other  food  when  young, 
except  milk;  and  lessen  the  quantity  when  the  calves  begin  to 
eat  grass  or  other  food,  which  they  will  generally  do  at  about 
five  weeks  old;  the  milk  is  totally  withdrawn  about  the  seventh 
or  eighth  week  of  the  calf's  age.  If,  however,  the  calf  is  reared 
in  the  winter,  or  early  in  the  spring  before  the  grass  rises,  it 
must  be  longer  supplied  with  milk,  for  it  will  not  so  soon  learn 
to  eat  hay  or  straw.  Some  mix  meal  with  the  milk  after  the 
third  or  fourth  week;  others  add  new  whey  to  the  milk,  which 
has  been  first  mixed  with  meal;  and  when  the  calf  gets  two 
months  old  they  withdraw  the  milk,  and  feed  it  on  whey  and 
porridge.  Hay-tea,  broths  of  peas,  or  of  pea  straw,  linseed 
beaten  into  powder,  treacle,  &c.,  have  all  been  sometimes  used 
to  advantage  in  feeding  calves ;  but  milk,  when  it  can  be  spared, 
is  the  most  natural  food. 

"The  dairy  calves  are  generally  fed  on  the  best  pasture  during 
the  first  summer,  and  have  some  preference  over  the  other  stock, 
in  food,  during  the  next  winter,  or  they  are  allowed  to  run  loose 
in  a  yard  with  a  shed,  and  are  supplied  with  green  food  in  cribs. 
When  the  green  food  is  eaten,  they  get  with  straw  as  many 
turnips  as  can  be  afforded  them,  and  that  is  generally  a  very 
small  quantity.  Mr.  Rankine  says  that  '  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  this  mode  of  feeding  during  the  first  season,  is  prefer- 
able to  pasturing.  Besides  the  excellent  dung  produced,  the 
animals  arrive,  under  this  treatment,  at  a  much  greater  size.' 
From  that  time,  until  they  drop  their  first  calf,  they  are  generally 
turned  on  inferior  pasture,  and  are  no  better  fed  in  winter  than 
any  other  species  of  stock.  They  are  allowed  what  oat  straw 


THE    AYRSHIBES.  123 

they  can  eat  during  the  night  and  morning,  and,  except  in  time 
of  snow,  are  turned  out  to  the  fields  during  the  day  time.  The 
greatest  part  of  the  young  dairy  stock  are  kept  in  byres,  or  in 
sheds  during  winter,  but  some  are  laid  out,  and  supported  with 
straw  in  the  fields." 

After  these  prolonged  and  exhaustive  draughts  from  Youatt, 
and  his  authorities,  which  we  consider  mainly  an  argument  in 
favor  of  the  Ayrshire — and  have  thought  it  a  duty  in  a  work  of 
this  character,  to  give  for  the  benefit  of  the  great  and  increasing 
dairy  interest  of  our  country — we  have  something  to  say  on  our 
own  account  about  them.  And  not  in  a  partizan  spirit,  either, 
but  in  that  of  a  fair  investigation  of  the  breed  and  its  merits. 
And  first,  as  to  their  origin  and  history. 

The  Ayrshires  first  began  to  be  imported  into  the  United 
States  about  the  year  1831 — thirty-six  years  ago.  They  were 
somewhat  different  in  appearance  from  the  later  importations, 
being  in  color  usually  deep  red,  or  brown,  flecked  with  white,  of 
rather  plain  look,  and  having,  mostly,  black  noses.  In  recent 
importations,  or  those  within  the  last  fifteen  years,  many  of  them 
have  assumed  more  the  "short-horn"  colors,  the  red  in  them  being 
of  a  lighter  shade,  and  less  of  it — white  being  the  prevailing 
color  in  many — and  some  of  them  a  lively  patched  roan,  with 
yellow  noses,  and  handsome,  and  more  symmetrical  forms,  but 
alike  bearing  the  marks  of  good  milkers.  These  remarks  may 
appear  inconsequent  now,  but  their  bearing  will  be  found  in  fur- 
ther speaking  of  their  history,  and  course  of  breeding. 

In  the  array  of  fact,  tradition,  and  inference  relating  to  their 
origin,  as  given  by  Youatt,  a  strange  jumble  is  made  of  their 
history,  and  still,  most  of  the  relations  given  by  the  authorities 
may  be  admitted.  The  fact  that  the  common  Scotch,  or  Kyloe 
cow,  previous  to  the  year  1724,  was  a  creature  of  but  ordinary 
value  for  the  dairy,  is  easily  understood;  and  the  "conjecture" 
of  Mr.  Robertson,  that  the  Earl  of  Marchmont,  in  some  of  the 


124  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

years  between  1724  and  1740,  brought  "Holderness"  cattle,  or 
"those  derived  from  them,"  on  to  his  estates  to  improve  the 
dairy  qualities  of  his  cows,  is  probable,  as  the  old  Holderness 
cattle  were  extraordinary  milkers,  and  had  the  colors  described 
in  the  early  Ayrshires.  It  was  on  the  Earl  of  Marchmont's 
estate  that  the  improvement  in  the  Ayrshires  first  began.  Some 
years  afterwards,  it  appears  that  "Mr.  Dunlop  imported  some 
Dutch  cattle"  and  crossed  on  the  Ayrshires,  or  their  immediate 
progenitors.  This  "Dutch"  importation  we  must  be  permitted 
to  doubt,  as  by  a  long  standing  British  order  in  Council, 
passed  previous  to,  and  continued  many  years  after  the  sup- 
posed Dutch  improvement  happened,  the  importation  of  foreign 
cattle  was  prohibited.  "Mr.  Orr,  about  the  year  1767,  brought 
to  his  estate  near  Kilmarnock,  (in  Ayrshire,)  some  fine  milk 
cows  of  a  larger  size  than  any  which  had  been  on  his  farm.  It 
was  not,  however,  till  about  1780,  that  this  improved  breed 
might  be  said  to  be  duly  estimated,  or  generally  established  in 
that  part  of  Ayrshire."  In  1790,  and  in  1804,  the  Ayrshires 
were  further  disseminated,  and  about  the  latter  year,  Mr.  Aiton 
takes  them  up.  Youatt  also  says,  "the  breed  has- been  much 
improved  since  Mr.  Aiton  described  it."  And  now  the  grand 
question  arises:  what  bulls  were  used  to  make  that  improve- 
ment? for  it  appears  that  up  to  Alton's  time,  the  Ayrshires  were 
a  composition  of  different  breeds,  based  mainly  on  the  Kyloe. 

As  Mr.  Aiton  is  made  the  chief  authority  for  this  origin,  and 
improvement,  we  wish  that  gentleman  had  been  more  particular 
in  facts,  and  dates,  for  he  leaves  the  matter  altogether  to  infer- 
ence, and  guess  work,  as  to  how  the  improvements  were  effected; 
and  in  that  dilemma  we  venture  a  guess.  It  could  be  from  no 
other  than  a  direct  cross  of  small,  compact  short-horn  bulls, 
descended  from  the  best  milking  cows  in  the  north-eastern  coun- 
ties of  England,  on  the  cows  descended  from  the  "Holderness" 
bulls  of  Lord  Marchmont,  and  their  crosses  from  the  "conjee- 


THE    AYRSHIRES.  125 

tured"  Dutch  bulls,  brought  in  by  Mr.  Dunlop.  From  no  other 
race  of  cattle,  either  Scotch,'  English,  or  Irish,  could  the  improved 
Ayrshires  get  their  shape,  color,  and  milking  qualities  combined — 
color  and  shape  resembling  the  short-horns  more  than  any  other, 
and  the  milking  quality  also  possessed  by  them  in  an  eminent 
degree.  And  although  a  persistence  in  such  crosses  has  been  kept 
out  of  sight,  or  not  acknowledged,  the  further  improvement  of 
the  Ayrshires  shows  still  greater  marks  of  a  continued  cross 
from  the  same  quarter. 

The  late  Mr.  Adam  Fergusson,  a  distinguished  statesman, 
farmer,  and  stock  breeder,  of  Upper  Canada,  a  native,  and  fifty 
years  a  resident,  and  connected  with  agricultural  interests  in  the 
Lowlands  of  Scotland,  repeatedly  informed  us  that  the  improve- 
ment of  the  Ayrshires  was  effected  by  the  use  of  short-horn 
bulls,  and  the  more  intelligent  of  the  Scottish  agriculturists  con- 
sidered them  as  simply  grade  short-horns.  The  Ayrshires  resem- 
ble the  short-horns  more  than  they  do  any  other  cattle,  and  as 
they  do  not  claim  originality  in  breed,  and  have  been  made  up 
mainly  within  the  last  hundred  years,  there  need  be  no  hesitancy 
in  acknowledging  both  the  facts  and  inferences  concerning  them. 
That  they  are  a  good  breed  of  cattle,  useful,  and  eminently 
qualified  for  the  dairy,  and  capable  of  perpetuating  among  them- 
selves their  good  qualities,  are  facts  now  well  established,  both 
in  Scotland  and  America;  and  thus  we  leave  their  "origin  and 
history." 

THE    AYRSHIRES    IN    AMERICA. 

Their  thirty-six  years'  trial  here  has  been  successful.  They 
-are  hardy,  healthy,  well  fitted  to  our  climate,  and  pastures,  and 
prove  good  milkers,  both  in  the  imported  originals,  and  their 
progeny.  Their  flow  of  milk  is  good  in  quantity,  and  fair  in 
quality;  yet,  we  must  be  permitted  to  say,  that  in  this  country 
they  do  not  yield  so  much  in  quantity,  as  is  alleged  they  have 
produced  in  Scotland.  The  chief  reason  for  this  is  obvious. 


126  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Ayrshire  has  a  moist  climate — an  almost  continuous  drizzle  of 
rains,  or  moisture  pervading  it — making  fresh,  green  pastures ;  a 
cooler  and  more  equable  temperature  in  summer,  and  warmer 
in  winter  than  ours.  Our  American  climate  is  liable  to  extremes 
of  cold  in  winter,  heat  in  summer,  and  protracted  droughts,  for 
weeks,  drying  up  our  herbage.  These  differences  alone  account 
for  a  diminished  quantity  in  the  yield  of  milk  from  the  Scotch, 
to  the  American  Ayrshires.  They  have  softer  grasses  for  hay, 
and  plenty  of  root  feeding  in  winter,  which  latter  we  have  not. 
This  fact  of  a  diminished  yield  in  milk  on  this  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  is  acknowledged  by  those  most  conversant  with  them 
in  both  countries. 

In  the  year  1837,  we  visited  the  Ayrshire  herd  of  the  late 
Mr.  John  P.  Gushing,  at  Watertown,  near  Boston,  Mass.  They 
were  of  the  choicest  quality,  imported  by  himself,  on  an  order 
•sent  out  to  an  experienced  dealer  in  Ayrshire  cattle,  "without 
regard  to  price,  so  they  were  of  the  best."  Two  or  three  of 
the  cows  were  "prize"  milkers  at  home,  and  certificates,  duly 
verified,  were  sent  with  them,  of  the  quantities  of  milk  they  had 
made.  They  had  then  been  a  year  or  more  at  Mr.  Cushing's 
farm,  and  had  the  best  of  keep.  We  questioned  the  manager  as 
to  the  quantities  of  milk  the  cows  gave  since  their  arrival,  com- 
pared with  the  certificates.  His  answer  was,  "about  one-third 
less,  on  an  average.  The  best  prize  cow  gave  33  quarts  per 
day  when  at  her  maximum,  in  Ayrshire,  and  22  quarts  here, 
and  the  others  in  about  like  proportion;  but  they  are  all  good 
milkers,  and  Mr.  Gushing  is  well  satisfied  with  them."  We 
simply  note  the  fact  of  the  declension  in  milk  of  the  Ayrshires. 
in  this  country,  knowing  the  same  to  have  occurred  with  cows 
of  other  breeds  from  England. 

AS    A    BEEF    ANIMAL. 

Youatt  says  little  of  the  Ayrshires  in  this  particular.  We  get 
only  this:  "It  will  be  long,  perhaps,  before  they  will  be  favorites 


THE    AYRSHIRES.  127 

with  the  butchers,  for  the  fifth  quarter  will  not  weigh  well  in 
them.  Their  fat  is  mingled  with  the  flesh,  rather  than  separated 
in  the  form  of  tallow;  yet  this  would  give  a  more  beautiful 
appearance  to  the  meat,  and  should  enhance  its  price  to  the  con 
sumer." 

We  never  saw  an  Ayrshire  bullock,  and  can  know  little  of 
them  as  beef.  We  see  no  good  reason,  however,  why  they 
should  not  make  proper  animals  for  slaughter,  as  their  general 
appearance  indicates  good  feeding  qualities.  Hitherto,  attention 
has  been  drawn  chiefly  to  their  milk,  and  for  that  reason,  proba- 
bly, less  attention  has  been  given  to  their  fattening  properties. 
That  must  remain  a  question  for  trial. 

After  all,  we  have  little  doubt  that  the  Ayrshires  owe  their 
chief  qualities,  both  in  milk,  as  well  as  in  form  and  color,  to  their 
short-horn  progenitors,  on  one  side.  We  have  no  wish  to  under- 
rate them,  and  do  not.  But  we  have  bred,  and  seen  bred  by 
others,  cows  which,  if  declared  to  be  Ayrshires,  would  pass 
without  suspicion,  both  in  their  looks,  and  milking  properties,  as 
good  specimens  of  the  breed ;  and  these  were  simply  the  produce 
of  good  native  milk  cows,  from  compact,  small,  short-horn  bulls, 
of  good  milking  ancestry.  The  cuts  which  we  give  are  accurate 
likenesses  of  a  living  bull  and  cow — both  first  prize  animals — 
descended  from  a  late  importation  from  Ayrshire,  which  were 
said  to  be  as  good  as  existed  in  Scotland.  A  single  glance  will 
detect  their  resemblance  to  the  small,  compact  short-horns,  which 
we  occasionally  meet  where  they  are  kept  more  for  their  milk 
than  for  "prize"  animals  at  the  exhibitions. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE    ALDEBNEY JERSEY GUERNSEY OR    CHANNEL 

ISLAND    CATTLE. 

WE  regret  that  Youatt — so  elaborate  with  some  other  breeds — 
has  devoted  less  than  two  pages  of  text  to  this  singular,  unique, 
and  truly  valuable  race.  And  from  other  English  authorities 
we  obtain  but  sketches  in  various  unconnected  accounts.  Youatt 
calls  them — to  England — a  "foreign  breed."  They  are  so, 
being  originally  from  Normandy,  a  Province  in  the  north-western 
part  of  France,  but  they  were  long  ago  transplanted,  and  became 
the  peculiar  race  belonging  to  the  "British  Channel  Islands"  of 
Jersey,  Guernsey,  and  Alderney,  lying  off  the  coast  of  Nor- 
mandy. 

"We  glean  some  partial  descriptions  of  them  from  foreign  pub- 
lications; but  as  we  have  them  here,  probably  in  as  high  qualities 
of  breeding  and  excellence  as  in  their  native  Islands,  we  describe 
them  as  we  have  seen.  Beginning  with  the  head — the  most 
characteristic  feature — the  muzzle  is  fine,  the  nose  either  dark 
brown  or  black,  and  occasionally  a  yellowish  shade,  with  a 
peculiar  mealy,  light-colored  hair,  running  up  the  face  into  a 
smoky  hue,  when  it  gradully  takes  the  general  color  of  the 
body ;  the  face  is  slightly  dishing,  clean  of  flesh,  mild  and 
gentle  in  expression;  the  eye  clear  and  full,  and  encircled  with  a 
distinct  ring  of  the  color  of  the  nose;  the  forehead  bold;  the 
horn  short,  curving  inward,  arid  waxy  in  color,  with  black  tips; 


THE    ALDEBNEYS.  129 

the  ear  sizable,  thin,  and  quick  in  movement.  The  whole  head 
is  original,  and  blood-like  in  appearance — more  so,  than  in  almost 
any  other  of  the  cattle  race — reminding  one  strongly  of  the  head 
of  our  American  Elk.  The  neck  is  somewhat  depressed — would 
be  called  "ewe-necked,"  by  some — but  clean  in  the  throat,  with 
moderate,  or  little  dewlap ;  the  shoulders  are  wide  and  some- 
what ragged,  with  prominent  points,  running  down  to  a  delicate 
arm,  and  slender  legs  beneath;  the  fore-quarters  stand  rather 
close  together,  with  a  thinnish,  yet  well  developed  brisket 
between ;  the  ribs  are  flat,  yet  giving  sufficient  play  for  good 
lungs;  the  back  depressed,  and  somewhat  hollow;  the  belly 
deep  and  large ;  the  hips  tolerably  wide ;  the  rump  and  tail  high ; 
the  loin  and  quarter  medium  in  length ;  the  thigh  thin  and  deep ; 
the  twist  wide,  to  accommodate  a  clean,  good  sized  udder;  the 
flanks  medium;  the  hocks,  or  gambrel  joints  crooked;  the  hind 
legs  small;  the  udder  capacious,  square,  set  well  forward,  and 
covered  with  soft,  silky  hair;  the  teats  fine,  standing  well  apart, 
and  nicely  tapering;  the  milk  veins  prominent.  On  the  whole 
she  is  a  homely,  blood -like,  gentle,  useful  little  housekeeping 
body,  with  a  most  kindly  temper,  loving  to  be  petted,  and,  like 
the  "pony,"  with  the  children,  readily  becomes  a  great  favorite 
with  those  who  have  her  about  them,  either  in  pasture^  paddock, 
or  stable.  The  colors  are  usually  light  red,  or  fawn,  occasion- 
ally smoky  grey,  and  sometimes  black,  mixed  or  plashed  more  or 
less  with  white.  Roan  colors,  and  a  more  rounded  form,  are 
now  and  then  seen  among  them,  but  we  do  not  like  them,  (as 
they  savor  of  a  short-horn  cross,  which  they  should  not  have,) 
as  anything  but  their  own  blood  and  figure,  and  that  of  the 
ancient  stock,  deteriorates  them — as  Alderneys.  The  Guernsey 
cows  are  usually  somewhat  larger  and  coarser  than  the  Jerseys, 
and  Alderneys,  showing  more  the  rotundity  and  symmetry 
approaching  the  shorthorns.  So  we  have  sometimes  seen 
them. 

6* 


130 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


Our  portraits  of  the  sexes,  taken  from  life,  give  a  correct 
representation  of  the  true  Alderney.  They  are  excellent 
specimens. 


Plate  17.    Alderney  Cow. 

She  is  simply  a  milking  cow,  and  for  nothing  else  should  the 
race  ever  be  bred.  The  bulls  may  be  used  in  crossing  on  our 
common  cows,  to  give  the  Alderney  quality  and  color  of  milk  in 
the  heifers  thus  descended  from  them ;  but  by  no  infusion  of  any 
other  blood,  can  the  Alderney  cow  be  improved  in  the  rich, 
yellow  qualities  for  which  her  milk  is  esteemed.  Along  the 
coast  of  Hampshire,  in  England,  she  is  frequently  kept  and  bred, 
and  many  of  them  are  scattered  over  other  counties,  but  chiefly 
in  individual,  or  small  numbers  for  family  use,  to  yield  the  milk 
and  butter  so  highly  prized  by  nice  housekeepers. 

Tho  distinguishing  quality  for  which  the  Alderney  is  prized,  is 
the  marked  richness,  and  deep  yellow  color  of  her  milk;  yet  it 
is  moderate  in  quantity — eight  to  twelve  quarts  a  day  being  a 
good  yield  in  the  height  of  her  season — but  that  wonderfully 
rich  in  cream  and  butter.  A  gentleman  in  New  England,  who 
had  for  many  years  kept  quite  a  herd  of  them  on  his  farm  for 


THE    ALDERNEYS.  131 

dairy  purposes,  a  few  years  since  told  us  that  he  sent  much  of 
his  butter  to  private  families  in  Boston,  where  he  obtained  about 
double  the  price  of  good  common  butter,  and  that  one-half  or 
even  less  of  Alderney  milk,  mixed  with  that  of  the  common  cow, 
gave  it  a  color  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  pure  breed.  "We  have 
had  like  accounts  from  others  who  kept  them. 

Alderneys  were  occasionally  imported  into  America  as  early 
as  fifty  years  ago,  and  in  considerable  numbers  within  the  last 
twenty  years.  The  late  Mr.  John  A.  Taintor,  of  Hartford, 
Conn.,  was  probably  the  largest  importer,  having  brought  in  a 
good  many  about  the  year  1850,  and  later,  from  which  he  bred 
and  sold  many  choice  cows  and  bulls.  Other  importations  have 
been  made  into  New  York,  by  the  late  Mr.  Roswell  L.  Colt,  of 
Paterson,  New  Jersey,  and  by  others  into  Boston,  Mass.,  Con- 
necticut, and  Philadelphia.  They  are  now  considerably  kept  in 
various  parts  of  the  New  England  States,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Pennsylvania,  Maryland,  and  a  few  of  the  States  further 
south,  and  west.  They  are  favorites  where  well  known,  are 
increasing  in  numbers,  and  bear  good  prices — from  $150  to  $300 
each,  for  cows,  depending  on  appearance  and  quality.  Natives 
of  a  milder  climate  than  ours,  they  are  more  delicate  in  constitu- 
tion, and  require  good  shelter  and  food.  They  will  not  rough  it 
so  well  as  our  common  cows,  or  some  of  the  English  breeds ;  but 
they  well  repay  all  the  care  given  them,  and  should  not  be  neg- 
lected. John  Lawrence,  an  English  writer,  quoted  by  Youatt, 
gives  an  account  of  an  Alderney  cow,  which  made  nineteen 
pounds  of  butter  each  week,  for  three  successive  weeks,  "and 
the  fact  was  so  extraordinary,  as  to  be  thought  worthy  of  a 
memorandum  in  the  parish  books."  Extraordinary,  most  truly, 
for  a  cow  of  any  breed. 

There  is  no  necessity  for  telling  a  story  of  large  quantities  of 
either  milk  or  butter  being  produced  by  an  Alderney.  They  are 
not  made  for  great  yields  of  anything. 


132 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


Our  portrait  of  the  bull  much  resembles  that  of  the  cow,  but 
showing  an  arched  neck,  and  the  more  masculine  appearance 
common  to  his  sex. 


Plate  18.    Alderney  Bull. 

The  chief  foreign  writer  on  Alderney  cattle,  is  Mr.  Le  Couteur, 
a  native,  and,  if  living,  a  resident  on  one  of  the  Channel  Islands. 
They  are  the  cattle  of  those  Islands ;  kept  and  bred  with  scrupu- 
lous care  to  their  purity  of  blood,  and  the  preservation  of  their 
distinctive  qualities.  The  people  of  the  Islands  have  laws  regu- 
lating the  introduction  of  foreign  cattle  among  them,  and  the 
exportation  of  their  natives  abroad.  It  is  estimated  that  upwards 
of  four  thousand  cattle  of  the  pure  breed  are  annually  exported 
from  the  Channel  Islands. 

Their  mode  of  keeping  them  is  quite  systematic,  and  their  feed 
somewhat  peculiar.  Parsnips,  of  which  the  Islands  yield  great 
quantities,  are  much  fed  to  them  in  winter  and  spring,  as  thev 
are  thought  to  promote,  in  a  high  degree,  their  flow  of  milk  and 


THE    ALDERXEYS.  133 

its  richness.  The  general  facts  detailed  by  Mr.  Le  Couteur, 
however,  are  much  as  we  have  related.  Their  calves  are  reared 
in  the  ordinary  way,  sucking  the  cow  but  a  short  time,  and  fed 
on  milk  diluted  with  meal  and  water,  or  whey,  yet  kept  with 
care,  and  a  good  supply  of  food,  until  fitted  for  grass.  The 
heifers  usually  bring  their  first  calves  at  two  and  a  half  to  three 
years  old.  In  short,  the  Alderneys  are  calculated  altogether  for 
the  pail. 

AS  A  WORKING    OX,   OR    BEEF    ANIMAL, 

We  leave  them  out  of  the  question.  They  are  little  fitted  for 
either,  compared  with  the  best  of  English  breeds,  or  even  our 
good  native  cattle.  Indeed,  they  make  no  special  claims  for 
those  purposes,  although  used  to  some  extent  for  both  in  their 
native  lands.  Here,  we  do  not  think  of  them  in  these  connec- 
tions. That  the  cow,  out  of  milk,  will  fatten  to  a  reasonable 
carcass,  or  the  steer,  if  made  so,  will  feed  fairly,  and  produce  a 
tolerable  quality  of  beef,  we  have  no  doubt ;  but  as  that  is  not 
the  purpose  for  which  they  are  sought,  or  reared,  we  dismiss 
thorn  as  not  particularly  valuable  in  either  item  of  labor  or  food. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

WE  now  approach  a  race  of  cattle,  which,  within  the  present 
century,  have  received  more  of  public  attention,  and  acquired  a 
wider  popularity,  both  in  England  and  America,  than  perhaps 
all  the  other  races  put  together.  It  is  due  to  this  attention  and 
popularity,  that  we  give  all  the  information  regarding  them  (as, 
indeed,  we  have  with  the  others,)  which  our  reading  and  obser- 
vation will  admit.  Their  history  has  been  involved  more  or 
less  in  doubt  and  controversy,  and  from  a  study  of  some  years 
of  all  the  various  authorities  regarding  them,  unbiased  by  either 
partiality  or  prejudice,  we  shall  strive  to  draw  truthful  conclu- 
sions, and  place  them  in  such  light  that  all  may  understand 
both  their  early  and  present  conditions. 

English  agricultural  history,  (for  the  Short-Horns,  in  their 
present  appearance,  were  known  only  in  England,)  previous  to 
dates  down  towards  early  in  the  last  century — say  one  hundred 
and  forty  years  ago — is  silent  respecting  them.  The  farming 
interests  of  Britain  had  gradually  awaked  to  the  improvement 
of  their  condition,  through  the  wants  of  a  growing  commerce 
and  population.  The  necessity  for  increasing  the  products  and 
revenues  of  the  hind,  and  the  consequent  stocking  them  with 
better  breeds  of  neat  cattle  than  had  previously  occupied  them, 
had  become  imperative.  It  was  in  the  latter  years  of  the  last 
century,  that  the  agricultural  writers  of  the  day  began  to  give  to 
the  public  some  notion  of  the  existence  and  value  of  this  noAv 
celebrated  race.  Among  these  writers  were  Culley,  Marshall, 
Bailey,  and  Lawrence,  who  wrote  upon  short-horn  cattle  in 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  135 

those  years,  and  Berry,  Youatt,  Martin,  Bates,  and  some  others, 
in  a  brief  way,  in  the  present.  We  shall  use  all  these  author- 
ities, without  particular,  or  but  partial  mention  of  either,  hi 
relating  their  history  and  progress  down  to  the  present  day. 
We  must  acknowledge,  also,  many  facts  derived  from  American 
writers  and  breeders  of  the  race,  whose  information  is  of  particu- 
lar value,  touching  their  recent  history,  or  breeding,  which  will 
be  duly  acknowledged ;  and  wherever  pretended  history,  either 
English  or  American,  has  been  found  in  error,  we  shall  strive  to 
correct  it. 

For  a  proper  understanding  of  the  matter,  here  at  the  thresh- 
old, we  may  as  well  assert  (better  here  than  elsewhere,)  that  the 
prevailing  impressions  of  the  history  of  the  improved  short- 
horns, (as  they  are  called,)  to  some  extent  in  England,  and 
almost  altogether  in  America,  is  a,  false  one.  With  a  charge  of 
that  character,  an  explanation  is  necessary. 

Youatt,  already  frequently  mentioned,  is  given  as  the  principal 
and  most  important  English  authority  on  "  British  "  cattle.  He 
compiled  his  work,  as  we  have  before  stated,  at  the  request  of, 
and  published  it  under  the  superintendence  of,  the  "  Society  for 
the  Diffusion  of  Useful  Knowledge,"  a  body  then  existing,  and 
whose  press  was  in  London.  He  was~  competent  to  the  task, 
and  the  chief  parts  of  his  work  have  been  admitted  to  be  correct. 
The  various  breeds  of  "  British  cattle  "  received  a  due  share  of 
his  attention.  With  well-established  authorities  for  his  accounts 
of  most  of  the  breeds  which  he  noticed,  he  left  the  short-horns 
for  the  last ;  and  with  a  strange  infatuation,  when  he  came  to 
them — the  most  important  in  value  of  any  other — instead  of 
doing  the  work  himself,  he  farmed  it  out,  with  the  exception 
only  of  a  few  running  notes  of  his  own,  to  one  who  had  been  a 
breeder  of  them  for  a  few  years  only,  the  "  Rev.  Henry  Berry." 
A  brief  aqpount  of  Mr.  Berry,  and  hia  short-horn  experience, 
must  be  given. 


136  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

It  appears  that  a  few  years  previous  to  1824,  he  commenced 
breeding,  his  stock  being  derived  principally  from  the  herd  of 
Mr.  Jonas  Whittaker,  a  cotton  manufacturer,  near  Otley,  in 
Yorkshire.  About  that  time  a  controversy  had  arisen  as  to  the 
comparative  merits  of  the  short-horn  and  Hereford  breeds  of 
cattle,  as  a  grazing  and  fattening  animal,  between  their  respective 
advocates,  and  Berry,  as  the  champion  of  the  short-horns,  wrote 
a  pamphlet  on  the  subject,  purporting  to  give  a  history  of  the 
"Improved  Short-horns,  derived  from  authentic  sources;  to  which 
is  added  an  enquiry  as  to  their  value  for  general  purposes,  placed 
in  competition  with  the  improved  Herefords."  This  pamphlet 
bears  an  imprint  of  the  year  1824.  In  the  year  1830,  he 
printed  a  "  second  edition  "  of  the  same  work.  "With  this  con- 
troversy, or  the  comparative  merits  of  the  two  breeds,  we  have 
nothing  to  do,  as  it  does  not  appertain  to  our  present  subject. 
His  facts  respecting  the  short-horns,  and  their  history,  so  far  as 
derived  from  others,  we  let  stand,  and  do  not  particularly  dispute, 
as  such  facts  have  been  equally  accessible  to  us,  as  to  him,  and 
we  are  content  to  let  them  remain  as  authority.  In  this 
pamphlet  he  ascribes  the  chief  merit,  as  the  "improver"  of  the 
short-horns,  to  Charles  Colling,  who  commenced  breeding  them 
about  the  year  1780.  The  only  other  breeder  he  prominently 
mentions,  is  Mr.  "Whittaker,  of  whom  he  (Berry)  purchased 
his  own  cattle. 

But  when,  in  1834,  Berry  produced  his  "history"  for  Youatt, 
it  was  quite  another  affair.  It  is  said  that,  in  the  meantime, 
between  the  "pamphlet,"  and  the  "history"  for  Youatt,  he  had 
ceased  his  relations  with  "Whittaker,  and  also  obtained  some  of 
the  "alloy"  stock  descended  from  one  of  Colling's  experimental 
crosses,  (which  will  be  hereafter  noticed,)  and  in  his  own  hands, 
he  had  an  object  in  writing  them  into  credit,  which  explains  this 
second  history.  The  account  in  Youatt  is  much  unlike  the 
history  in  the  pamphlet  in  other  particulars,  some  being  added 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  137 

and  others  left  out.  He  retains  Ceiling's  name  in  Youatt,  but 
omits  Whittaker's  altogether,  and  introduces  facts  iu  the  course 
of  Ceiling's  breeding,  which  he  omitted  in  the  pamphlet. 

The  main  point  of  falsity,  however,  (left  out  in  the  pamphlet 
and  put  into  Youatt,)  which  we  propose  to  detect,  as  the  source 
of  all  the  mischief  about  the  improvement  of  the  short-horns  by 
Colling,  is  this :  While  Colling  was  successfully  breeding  short- 
horns from  the  best  blood  he  had  obtained  of  older  and 
cotemporary  breeders  around  him,  a  neighbor,  "Col.  O'Calla- 
ghan,"  bought  a  couple  of  Galloway  heifers,  and  brought  them 
home  to  his  farm.  He  arranged  with  Colling  to  put  them  to  his 
short-horn  bull  "Bolingbroke;"  if  the  calves  were  heifers,  he 
(O'Callaghan)  was  to  retain  them  ;  if  bulls,  Colling  was  to  have 
them.  One  of  the  heifers — a  red  one — dropped  a  bull  calf,  a 
half-bred  short-horn,  of  course,  which,  by  the  arrangement, 
belonged  to  Colling.  This  bull  calf  being  a  good  one — as  a 
mongrel — Colling  brought  him  up  to  a  yearling.  He  had  a 
short-horn  cow,  Joanna,  quite  old,  and  not  having  bred  a  calf 
for  two  years,  he  put  her  to  this  yearling  cross-bred  calf,  "Son 
of  Bolingbroke."  She  became  pregnantf  and  in  due  course,  in 
the  year  1794,  dropped  a  bull  calf — three-fourths  short-horn  and 
one-fourth  Galloway — a  grandson  of  Bolingbroke.  He  proved 
a  likely  calf,  also,  and  Colling  kept  him,  as  he  had  kept  his  sire, 
until  he  became  a  yearling.  He  had  a  very  fine,  aged  cow, 
"Phoenix,"  from  which  had  sprung  some  of  his  best  stock.  She 
had  produced  a  thorough  bred  short-horn  calf  in  1793.  Although 
afterwards  put  to  some  of  Colling's  thorough  bred  bulls,  she 
continued  barren,  and  in  the  winter  of  1795-6,  was  put  into  the 
straw  yard,  and  the  young  "Grandson  of  Bolingbroke,"  then  a 
yearling,  turned  in  with  her.  To  him,  Phcenix  became  pregnant. 
Colling  then  disposed  of  this  "Grandson  of  Bolingbroke."  In 
the  autumn  of  1796,  Phoenix  produced  a  heifer  calf,  seven- 
eighths  short-horn  and  one  eighth  Galloway  blood.  Being  a 


138  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

good  one,  Colling  called  her  "Lady,"  and  raised  her.  When 
matured,  he  put  this  heifer  "  Lady "  successively  to  his  best 
bulls,  and  reared  several  calves  from  her.  Her  first  calf  was  a 
bull,  which  he  called  "Washington,"  and  Colling  bred  him  to 
two  or  three  of  his  cows,  but  nothing  came  from  him  of  any 
particular  value.  He  also  bred  her  daughters  to  his  good  bulls, 
but  never  bred  one  of  the  bull  calves,  of  either  Lady  or  her 
heifer  descendants,  except  the  bull  Washington,  to  any  thorough 
bred  cows  in  his  herd ;  nor  is  it  known  that  he  ever  sold  one  of 
them,  as  a  thorough  bred.  He  kept  this  "  Lady  "  family  separate, 
and  by  way  of  distinction  from  his  thorough-breds,  called  them 
the  "Alloy."  They  were  good  feeders,  had  good  carcasses, 
and  made  a  good  appearance,  but  they  were  no  milkers.  At 
Ceiling's  great  sale  of  his  short-horns,  in  the  year  1810,  when 
he  quit  breeding,  this  "Lady"  family  were  catalogued  with  his 
others,  and  sold,  with  their  full  pedigrees  distinctly  given,  so 
there  need  be  no  deception  as  to  their  breeding.  Of  this  "family >J 
there  were  quite  a  number,  and  being  in  fine  condition,  and  cattle 
of  all  kinds  in  demand,  they  brought  good  prices,  but  not  near 
so  much,  individually,  as  the  cattle  of  some  of  his  other  families. 
These  "alloy"  were  bought  by  the  young,  or  new  short-horn 
breeders,  and  not  by  the  older  veteran  breeders  who  attended 
the  sale.  Thus  "Lady"  had  one-eighth  Galloway  blood,  her 
daughters  on-e-sixteenth,  their  descendants  less,  and  so  on. 

Now,  Berry  works  up  the  story,  and  the  prices  the  'alloy' 
sold  for,  in  his  own  way,  leaving  the  impression  that  they  were 
the  favorite  cattle  at  the  sale,  and  stamps  this  Galloway  cross  as 
the  root,  foundation,  and  origin  of  the  "improved"  short-horns! 

In  giving  an  account  of  Colling's  sale,  and  the  prices  the  cattle 
brought,  we  let  Berry  tell  his  own  story:  "It  will  probably  be 
admitted  that  the  prejudice  against  the  cross  (alluding  to  the 
"alloy")  was  at  the  highest  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Charles  Col- 
ling's  sale.  The  blood  had  then  been  little,  if  at  all,  introduced 


THE   SHORT-HORNS.  139 

to  other  stocks,  and  it  was  the  interest,  whatever  might  be 
the  inclination  of  the  many  breeders  who  had  it  not,  to  assume 
high  ground  for  the  pure  blood,  and  to  depreciate  the  alloy. 
Under  these  circumstances,  what  said  public  opinion,  unequivo- 
cally certified  by  the  stroke  of  the  auctioneer's  hammer?"  And 
with  this  flourish  of  trumpet,  he  then  proceeds  (in  Youatt,)  to 
give  an  illustrated  portrait  of  one  of  his  own  cows,  a  descendant 
of  this  celebrated  "Lady!"  Youatt,  in  a  quiet  foot-note  to 
Berry's  account,  rather  rebukingly  says:  "As  the  grandson  of 
Bolingbroke  is  not  known  to  have  been  the  sire  of  any  other 
remarkably  good  animal,  it  is  most  probable  that  the  unquestion- 
able merit  of  Lady  and  her  descendants,  is  to  be  attributed  more 
to  her  dam  than  to  her  sire."  This  must  be  so,  as  "Phoenix," 
the  dam  of  Lady,  was  one  of  the  best  cows  of  her  day,  and  the 
dam  of  "Favorite," — (252)  Coates'  Herd  Book — perhaps  the 
very  best  bull  of  his  time.  He  was  the  sire  of  Comet,  who 
brought  at  the  sale,  the  unprecedented  sum  of  1,000  guineas — 
$5,000.  (Cattle  of  all  kinds  were  enormously  high  at  that  time 
in  England, — war  times — and  at  this  sale  of  Ceiling's,  the  short- 
horns sold  at  higher  rates  than  ever  known  before  or  since,  until 
Lord  Ducie's  sale  in  1853.)  The  names  and  pedigrees  of  those 
bulls,  O'Callaghan's  "Sou  of  Bolingbroke,"  and  "Grandson  of 
Bolingbroke,"  will  be  found  in  Coates'  English  Herd  Book, 
Vol.  1. 

Now,  this  is  the  falsehood,  plausibly  told  by  Berry  in  Youatt's 
history,  and  which  has  since  been  adopted  as  authority,  both  in 
England  and  America,  and  drawn  upon  by  many  subsequent 
writers  in  both  countries,  who  did  not  know  any  better — and 
reported  a  thousand  times,  until  half  the  world  believe  it — that 
makes  the  "improved"  modern  race  of  short-horns  originate 
from  a  bull  of  the  "old  Teeswater  stock,"  and  a  "Galloway 
cow !"  when  in  truth,  scarcely  a  particle  of  Galloway  blood  runs 


140  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

in  the  veins  of  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  approved  short-horns  of 
the  present  day,  in  either  country. 

We  have  made  rather  a  long  story  in  showing  up  this  decep- 
tion ;  but  the  truth  of  short-horn  history  has  demanded  it ;  and 
if  we  shall  have  succeeded  in  putting  this  matter  right,  before 
the  large  interest  concerned  in  pure  short-horn  breeding,  our 
object  will  be  accomplished.  From  the  late  Mr.  Thomas  Bates, 
a  distinguished  short-horn  breeder,  of  Kirkleavington,  Durham, 
Eng.,  a  cotemporary  of  Charles  Colling,  and  other  corroborating 
testimony,  the  above  account  is  given. 

Having  disposed  of  this  historical  swindle,  we  proceed  to  give, 
from  the  best  authorities  at  command,  a  correct  account  of  the 
origin,  rise,  progress,  and  present  condition  of  this  breed  of 
cattle. 

HISTORY    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

For  some  centuries  anterior  to  the  conquest  of  England  by 
the  First  William,  (of  Normandy,)  the  north-eastern  counties  of 
England,  Northumberland,  Durham  and  York,  (then  called 
Northumbria,)  had  been  possessed,  with  occasional  interruptions, 
by  the  Danes,  and  other  Scandinavians  of  North-western  Europe. 
They  were  a  warlike  people,  not  only  conquering,  by  their  bold 
raids,  the  countries  along  the  continental  coast  to  the  south  of 
them,  even  into  Holland,  but  pirates  and  "sea  kings"  as  well, 
carrying  their  devastations  across  the  water  into  Northumbria, 
and  some  adjoining  parts  of  Britain.  While  they  held  the  fron- 
tier coast  of  England,  they  established  trade  in  many  articles  of 
merchandise  and  agricultural  products,  and  shipped  them  to  and 
from  both  sides  of  the  ocean  channel.  Among  these  were  cattle 
in  considerable  numbers.  Southern  Denmark,  Jutland,  Holstein, 
and  Utrecht,  long  held  by  the  Danes,  possessed  a  breed  of  cattle 
— short-horns  essentially — having  their  general  appearance,  and 
peculiar  colors,  but  coarse  in  form  and  flesh,  yielding  largely  of 
milk.  It  is  supposed  by  the  majority  of  the  earlier  English 


THK    SHORT-HORXS.  141 

writers  ou  agriculture  and  cattle,  who  paid  particular  attention 
to  these  subjects,  that  it  was  from  these  foreign  cattle,  imported 
at  that  early  day  from  the  neighboring  continent,  that  the  present 
race  of  short-horns  are  descended,  and  that  for  some  centuries 
they  inhabited  that  part  of  England  only.  The  earliest  accounts 
we  have  seen,  first  found  them  there.  Holderness,  a  district  of 
Yorkshire,  was  said  to  number  these  cattle  in  considerable  herds. 
They  possessed  a  great  aptitude  to  fatten,  in  addition  to  their 
milking  qualities,  yet  their  flesh  was  coarse,  accompanied  by  a 
large  amount  of  offal.  That  they  possessed  valuable  character- 
istics in  their  high  and  broad  carcasses,  and  contained  within 
themselves  the  element  of  refinement,  when  brought  within  the 
conditions  of  shelter,  good  fare,  and  painstaking,  we  may  well 
conjecture.  The  people  of  those  days  were  rude  and  unculti- 
vated, and  the  cattle  must  have  been  rude  also.  Oftentimes 
pinched  with  poverty  and  scant  fare,  subject  to  the  storms  and 
blasts  of  an  inclement  winter  climate,  unsheltered,  probably,  in 
all  seasons,  except  as  the  woods  or  hollows  of  the  land  could 
protect  them,  the  worst  points  of  their  anatomy  took  precedence 
in  looks,  and  they  were  but  a  sorry  spectacle  to  the  eye  of  an 
accurate  judge,  or  breeder. 

Following  down  to  near  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  we 
find  that  some  of  the  authors  named  speak  of  these  cattle,  on 
the  banks  of  the  river  Tees,  (a  stream  dividing  the  counties  of 
York  and  Durham,)  existing  in  a  high  degree  of  improvement, 
and  superior  to  almost  any  others  which  they  had  seen.  As  we 
have  before  remarked,  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  were  found 
in  these  counties  only,  as  every  district  in  England  had  its  own 
local  breeds  to  which  their  people  were  partial,  and  cattle  were 
not  interchanged  as  now,  except  for  the  purposes  of  feeding,  and 
going  to  London,  or  other  large  sea  coast  markets,  for  consump- 
tion. No  doubt,  in  the  agricultural  progress  of  the  country, 
these  cattle  had  received  considerable  attention,  and  were  much 
improved  in  their  forms,  flesh,  and  general  appearance  by  their 


142  AMKBICAN    CATTLE. 

breeders,  until  they  arrived  at  a  considerable  degree  of  perfec- 
tion. Here,  then,  we  find  them  existing  in  several  excellent 
herds,  and  bred  with  much  care.  Some  pedigrees  can  be  traced, 
more  or  less  distinctly,  back  to  the  year  1740,  or  even  earlier. 
The  late  Mr.  Bates,  in  one  of  his  accounts  of  these  cattle,  says,  in 
1784  the  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  had  fine  short- 
horns upon  them,  for  two  hundred  years  previous  to  that  time. 

Let  us  see:  Bailey,  in  his  survey  of  Durham,  written  in  the 
year  1808,  says  that  "Seventy  years  since  (1738,)  the  colors  of 
the  cattle  of  Mr.  Milbank  and  Mr.  Croft,  were  red  and  white, 
and  white,  with  a  little  red  about  the  neck,  or  roan,"  as  related 
to  him  by  old  men  who  knew  them  at  the  time.  Culley  also 
states  the  same  fact.  Milbank  and  Croft  were  both  noted  cattle 
breeders  of  that  day,  and  into  their  herds  many  modern  cattle 
trace  their  pedigrees.  The  Duke  of  Northumberland  had  good 
short-horns  on  his  estate  at  Stanwick,  in  that  county.  The 
Aislabees,  of  Studley  Park,  and  Sir  William  St.  Quintin,  of 
Scampston,  also  kept  excellent  short-horns ;  and  the  Stephen- 
sons,  Maynards,  Wetherells,  and  many  others,  too  numerous  to 
mention,  were  breeders.  As  a  sample  of  what  these  early  short- 
horns could  do  in  the  way  of  flesh,  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen  mentions, 
in  the  American  Agriculturist,  Vol.  1,  p.  162,  that  in  1740,  Mr. 
Milbank,  of  Barningham, — for  it  is  on  record  there — fed  an  ox 
five  years  old,  which  dressed  2,100  pounds  in  the  four  quarters, 
and  had,  besides,  224  pounds  rough  tallow ;  and  a  cow  of  the 
same  stock,  which  weighed  1,540  pounds,  equal  to  almost  any- 
thing of  the  present  day.  Had  we  space,  we  could  record  the 
weight  of  many  other  short-horns  in  the  last  century,  which 
approached  these  in  excellence. 

As  the  merits  of  these  cattle  became  more  known,  they 
rapidly  increased  among  the  local  breeders  and  farmers  of  those 
counties,  but  they  did  not  obtain  anything  like  a  general  reputa- 
tion over  the  country,  until  Charles  and  Robert  Colling  came  on 


THE   SHORT-HORNS.  143 

to  the  stage  and  commenced  breeding  them.  They  were  young 
farmers,  brothers,  and  their  father  had  been  a  short-horn  breeder 
before  them.  They  established  themselves  as  farmers  and  cattle- 
breeders  about  the  year  1780,  each  having  separate  herds,  but 
working  more  oT  less  together,  and  interchanging  the  use  of 
their  bulls.  Charles  the  younger,  was  the  more  enterprising, 
but  not  a  better  breeder  than  his  brother.  •  "With  great  sagacity 
and  good  judgment,  they  picked  up  some  of  the  best  cows  and 
bulls  from  the  herds  of  the  older  breeders  around  them,  and  for 
many  years  bred  them  with  success  and  profit.  They  early 
possessed  themselves  of  a  bull,  afterwards  called  "Hubback," 
claimed,  by  some,  to  be  the  great  progenitor  of  the  improved 
short-horns.  He  proved  a  most  excellent  stock-getter  while  in 
the  hands  of  the  Collings,  as  well  as  before  they  obtained  him, 
and  after  he  left  them — perhaps  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  his 
race.  He  was  a  pure  short-horn,  as  his  pedigree  in  the  first 
volume  of  Coates'  Herd  Book  attests>  although  Berry,  in  his 
Youatt  history,  attempts,  for  purposes  of  his  own,  to  throw  a 
cloud  upon  his  lineage. 

The  possession  of  "Hubback"  proved  fortunate  for  the 
Collings,  as  some  of  their  best  cattle  traced  into  his  blood,  which 
was  more  or  less  participated  in  by  the  breeders  around  them. 
The  blood  of  this  bull  became  so  famous,  indeed,  that  any  good 
and  well  bred  beast  which  could  trace  its  pedigree  to  him,  was 
counted  of  rare  value. 

We  have  said  that  Charles  Colling  was  a  sagacious  man,  in 
his  line.  He  knew,  as  well  as  the  breeders  around  him,  that  the 
short-horns  were  a  superior  race  of  cattle,  but  their  reputation, 
as  yet,  was  a  local  one,  and  he  determined  to  make  them  known 
in  other  counties  of  England,  where  they  were  strangers.  For 
this  object,  Colling  took  a  bull  calf  got  by  "Favorite,"  before 
mentioned,  made  him  a  steer,  and  fed  him  to  a  bullock,  for  the 
purpose  of  exhibiting  him  through  the  country.  Berry  says, 
"  the  ox  was  the  produce  of  a  common  cow,"  but,  as  he  gives 


144  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

no  proof,  it  may  be  doubted, — unless  the  "  common  "  cows  of 
the  neighborhood  were  all  short-horns, — as  his  portrait  shows 
the  full  points,  ripeness  and  refinement  of  a  thorough  bred. 

Colling  kept  the  steer  till  five  years  old,  and  called  him  the 
"Durham  Ox."  In  February,  1801,  he  sold  him  to  a  Mr. 
Bulmer,  to  be  tak^n  around  the  country  for  exhibition.  At  that 
time,  his  live  weight  was  3,024  pounds — his  weight  of  beef,  hide 
and  tallow,  if  dressed,  was  computed  to  be  2,352  pounds;  and 
this  extraordinary  weight  did  not  proceed  so  much  from  his 
great  size  as  from  the  exceeding  ripeness  of  his  points.  Mr. 
Bulmer  procured  a  carriage  for  his  conveyance,  and  traveled 
with  him  only  five  weeks,  when  he  sold  him  to  Mr.  John  Day, 
of  Rotherham,  in  May,  1801,  for  £250,  ($1,250.)  Mr.  Day 
traveled  with  him  nearly  six  years,  through  most  of  the  counties 
of  England  and  Scotland,  when,  in  February,  1807,  he  dislocated 
a  hip  bone,  and  had  to  be  slaughtered.  Although  he  had  lost- 
much  flesh,  not  being  killed  until  April,  his  carcass  weighed  as 
follows : 

Four  quarters,        .         .         .2,322  Ibs. 
Tallow,      .         .         .         .  156  Ibs. 

Hide,    ......        142  Ibs.— 2, 620  Ibs. 

He  was,  at  his  death,  eleven  years  old,  and  Mr.  Day  could  at 
one  time  on  his  travels  have  taken  £2,000  ($10,000)  for  him, 
so  much  was  the  ox  admired. 

Colling  afterwards  fed  a  thorough  bred  heifer,  also  got  by 
"Favorite,"  and  sent  her  out  for  exhibition.  She  was  called 
"The  White  Heifer  that  traveled,"  and,  as  her  portrait  (Fron- 
tispiece to  Vol.  5,  American  Short-horn  Herd  Book,)  represents, 
a  creature  of  wonderful  ripeness  of  points.  Her  profitable 
weight,  when  slaughtered,  was  estimated  at  1,820  pounds,  and 
her  live  weight  at  2,300  pounds. 

The  exhibition  of  these  wonderful  cattle,  aroused  public  atten- 
tion to  their  merits,  and  raised  Charles  Colling,  as  their  breeder, 


THE    SUORT-IIOBNS. 


145 


to  a  high  reputation,  and,  in  the  demand  created  for  his  stock, 
soon  secured  him  a  fortune.  Meantime  other  breeders  were  not 
idle.  The  Collings,  as  before  said,  first  got  their  best  early  stock 
from  the  older  breeders  around  them,  and  while  those  older 
breeders  kept  on  improving  their  herds  to  a  quality  perhaps 
equal  to  the  Oollings,  the  travels  of  the  "ox"  and  "heifer," 
known  to  be  bred  by  him,  had  achieved  a  high  reputation  for 
Charles,  and  stamped  him,  in  the  minds  of  many,  as  the  real 
"improver"  of  the  race.  There  was,  by  the  way,  no  Galloway, 
or  "alloy"  blood,  in  these  traveled  animals,  nor  did  any  breeder 
ever  boast  of  having  it,  but  whenever  they  did  have  it,  bred  it 
out  by  the  use  of  thorough  bred  bulls,  as  fast  as  possible.  To 
show  the  style  of  the  old  short-horns  in  Ceiling's  time,  we  give 
a  portrait  of  a  cow,  copied  from  the  first  volume  of  Coates' 
Herd  Book.  She  is  only  in  moderate  condition,  but  shows  the 
(strong  and  well-defined  marks  of  an  excellent  animal. 


146  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

We  might  follow  this  subject  to  a  much  greater  length,  in 
discussing  the  further  progress  of  the  English  short-horns  down 
to  a  late  day ;  but  it  would  be  of  little  interest  to  any  but  the 
breeders  of  pure  short-horn  blood,  and  as  the  subject  is  thoroughly 
canvassed  in  the  several  volumes  of  the  American  Short-horn 
Herd  Book,  to  which  they  have  access,  a  further  pursuit  of  it  is 
omitted.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the  short-horns  now  stand  in  the 
front  rank  of  all  the  bovine  races  in  Great  Britain,  and  on  some 
portions  of  the  continent  adjacent,  and  in  the  Australian  and 
Canadian  Colonies,  where  the  soil  and  climate  is  adapted  to  their 
support.  All  the  breeds  of  English,  Welsh,  Scotch  and  Irish 
cattle  are  more  or  less  crossed  by  them,  and  although  many  of 
these  other  breeds  still  hold  a  high  reputation  in  their  purity  of 
blood  and  their  several  excellent  qualities,  the  short-horns,  in 
their  purity,  and  much  more  in  their  crosses  with  other  breeds, 
are  continually  gaining  foothold  and  reputation.  They  are  the 
heaviest  beef  cattle  driven  to.  the  London  markets,  and  are 
claimed  to  be  ripe  at  an  earlier  age  than  others ;  while  for  dairy 
cows,  as  milkers,  when  bred  for  that  purpose,  they  excel.  These 
assertions  may  be  taken  with  allowance,  but  their  still  advancing 
popularity  must  be  supposed  to  add  somewhat  of  proof  to  their 
general  excellence. 

THE    SHORT-HORNS    IN    AMERICA. 

It  has  been  difficult  to  collect  every  account  of  the  earlier 
introduction  of  short-horns  into  the  United  States.  Such  as  we 
have  been  able  to  obtain  we  shall  relate. 

Soon  after  the  termination  of  the  Revolutionary  war  with 
England,  a  few  cattle,  supposed  to  be  pure  short-horns,  were 
brought  into  Virginia  by  a  Mr.  Miller.  These  were  said  to  be 
well  fleshed  animals,  and  the  cows  remarkable  for  milk,  giving 
as  high  as  thirty-two  quarts  in  a  day.  Some  of  the  produce  of 
these  cattle,  as  early  as  1797,  were  taken  into  Kentucky  by  a 
Mr.  Fatten,  where,  as  little  was  known  of  "breeds,"  they  were 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  .    147 

called,  after  the  gentleman  who  brought  them,  the  "Patton 
stock.  They  were  well  cared  for,  and  made  a  decided  improve- 
ment in.  the  cattle  of  the  "Blue  grass  country,"  where  they  were 
first  introduced.  Some  of  this  early  Virginia  stock  also  went 
out  to  the  "south  branch  of  the  Potomac,"  in  that  State,  a  fine 
grazing  country,  which,  fifty  years  ago,  was  famous  for  its  good 
cattle. 

In  the  year  1796,  it  is  said  that  an  Englishman,  named  Heaton, 
brought  two  or  three  short-horn  cattle  from  the  north  of  England 
to  New  York.  They  were  taken  to  Westchester  county,  near  by, 
and  bred,  but  no  results,  in  pure  blood,  have  been  traced  to  them. 

In  1815—16,  a  Mr.  Cox,  an  Englishman,  imported  a  bull  and 
two  heifers  into  Rensselaer  county,  N.  Y.  These  were  followed, 
in  1822,  by  two  bulls,  imported  by  another  Englishman  named 
Wayne.  Descendants  from  this  Cox  stock  were  said  to  be  bred 
pure,  and  after  wards  crossed  by  Mr.  "Wayne's  bulls.  The  stock 
now  exists  in  considerable  numbers  and  of  good  quality,  in  that 
and  adjoining  counties. 

In  1817,  Col.  Lewis  Sanders,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  made  an 
importation  of  three  bulls  and  three  heifers  from  England. 
They  were  of  good  quality  and  blood,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  many  excellent  herds  in  that  State. 

In  1818,  Mr.  Cornelius  Cooledge,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  imported 
a  yearling  heifer — "Flora" — and  a  bull — "Cicero" — into  that 
city,  from  the  herd  of  Mr.  Mason,  of  Chilton,  in  the  county 
of  Durham,  England.  These  were  carefully  bred,  and  many  of 
their  descendants  are  now  scattered  throughout  several  States. 

About  the  same  year,  Mr.  Samuel  Williams,  then  a  merchant 
in  London,  but  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  sent  out  a  bull — 
"  Young  Denton  " — and  some  cows,  bred  by  Mr.  Wetherell,  a 
noted  short-horn  breeder.  The  bull  was  much  used  to  cows  of 
the  same  and  later  importations,  and  their  descendants  are  still 
numerous  among  well  bred  short-horns  of  the  present  day. 


148  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

The  same  year,  Mr.  Gorham  Parsons,  of  Brighton,  Mass., 
imported  a  short-horn  bull — "Fortunatus" — bred  by  Geo.  Faulk- 
ner, of  North  Allerton,  Yorkshire,  England.  He  was  used  con- 
siderably on  the  native  cows  of  his  State,  but  we  have  never 
traced  any  thorough  bred  pedigrees  to  him. 

In  1820,  Mr.  Theodore  Lyman,  of  Boston,  Mass.,  imported  a 
bull,  which  he  sold  to  Israel  Thorndike,  of  that  city,  and  he  sent 
him  to  his  farm  in  Maine.  Of  his  produce  we  hear  nothing. 

About  the  year  1820,  and  during  a  few  years  succeeding, 
several  spirited  gentlemen  of  Boston,  and  its  neighborhood, 
imported  a  number  of  cows  and  bulls  from  some  of  the  best 
herds  in  England.  They  were  Messrs.  Derby,  "Williams,  Lee, 
Prince,  Monson,  and  perhaps  others.  These  were  all  fine  cattle, 
and  of  approved  blood  in  the  English  short-horn  districts. 
Their  descendants  are  still  numerous  in  New  England,  and  some 
other  States. 

About  the  year  1823,  the  late  Admiral  Sir  Isaac"  Coffin,  ot 
the  British  navy,  a  native  of  Massachusetts,  sent  out  a  cow — 
"Annabella" — and  a  bull — "Admiral" — as  a  gift  to  the  Massa- 
chusetts Agricultural  Society.  They  were  good  animals,  and 
bred  with  the  other  Massachusetts  importations. 

Shortly  previous  to  1821,  the  late  John  S.  Skinner,  of  Balti- 
more, Md.,  imported  for  Governor  Lloyd,  of  that  State,  a  bull 
— "Champion" — and  two  heifers — "White  Rose  "and  "Shep- 
herdess"— from  the  herd  of  Mr.  Champion,  a  noted  English 
breeder.  From  these,  several  good  animals  descended,  some  of 
which  are  now  known. 

In  1823,  Mr.  Skinner  also  imported  for  the  late  Gen.  Stephen 
"Van  Rensselaer,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  a  bull — "Washington" — 
and  two  heifers — "Conquest"  and  "Pansey" — from  the  same 
herd  of  Mr.  Champion.  Conquest  did  not  breed;  Pansey  was 
a  successful  breeder,  and  many  of  her  descendants  are  now 
scattered  over  the  country. 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  149 

During  the  years  1822  to  1830,  the  late  Mr.  Charles  Henry 
Hall,  of  New  York,  imported  several  short-horn  bulls  and  cows, 
from  some  of  the  best  English  herds.  Several  of  these  he  sold 
to  persons  in  the  neighborhood  of  that  city,  soon  after  they 
arrived,  and  others  he  sent  to  his  farm  in  Rensselaer  county,  near 
Albany,  and  there  bred  them.  Their  descendants  are  now  scat- 
tered through  several  good  herds. 

In  1824,  the  late  Col.  John  Hare  Powell,  of  Philadelphia, 
Pa.,  commenced  importations,  and  for  several  years  continued 
them  with  much  spirit  and  judgment.  His  selections  were 
principally  from  the  herd  of  Jonas  '  Whitaker,  of  Otley,  in 
Yorkshire,  England.  He  bred  them  assiduously  at  his  fine 
estate  at  Powelton,  near  the  city,  and  sold  many  to  neighboring 
breeders,  and  to  go  into  Ohio,  and  Kentucky,  where  many  of 
their  descendants  still  remain. 

About  the  year  1828,  Mr.  Francis  Rotch,  then  of  New 
Bedford,  Mass.,  selected  from  the  herd  of  Mr.  Whitaker,  and 
sent  to  Mr.  Benj.  Rodman,  of  New  Bedford,  a  bull  and  three 
heifers.  They  were  afterwards  sold  to  other  breeders,  and  their 
descendants  are  now  found  in  several  excellent  herds. 

In  the  year  1833,  the  late  Mr.  Walter  Dun,  near  Lexington, 
Ky.,  imported  a  bull  and  several  valuable  cows  from  choice 
herds  in  Yorkshire,  England.  He  bred  them  with  much  care, 
and  their  descendants  are  now  found  in  many  good  western  herds. 

But  the  first  enterprise  in  importing  short-horns  upon  a  grand 
scale,  was  commenced  in  1834,  by  an  association  of  cattle 
breeders  of  the  Scioto  Valley,  and  its  adjoining  counties,  in 
Ohio.  They  formed  a  company,  with  an  adequate  capital,  and 
sent  out  an  agent,  who  purchased  the  best  cattle  to  be  found, 
without  regard  to  price,  and  brought  out  nineteen  animals  in  one 
ship,  landed  them  at  Philadelphia,  and  drove  them  to  Ohio. 
Further  importations  wero  made  by  the  same  company,  in  the 
years  1835  and  1836.  The  cattle  were  kept  and  bred  together 


150  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

in  one  locality,  for  upwards  of  t\vo  years,  and  then  sold  by 
auction.  They  brought  large  prices — $500  to  $2,500  each — 
and  were  distributed  chiefly  among  the  stockholders,  who  were 
among  the  most  extensive  cattle  breeders  and  graziers  of  the 
famous  Scioto  Valley. 

In  1837—8-9,  importations  were  made  into  Kentucky,  by 
Messrs.  James  Shelby  and  Henry  Clay,  Jr.,  and  some  other 
parties,  of  several  well-selected  short-horns,  some  of  which  were 
kept  and  bred  by  the  importers,  and  the  others  sold  in  their 
vicinity. 

In  1837-8-9,  Mr.  Whitaker,  above  mentioned,  sent  out  to 
Philadelphia,  on  his  own  account,  upwards  of  a  hundred  short- 
horns, from  his  own  and  other  herds,  and  put  them  on  Col. 
Powell's  farm,  where  lie  sold  them  at  auction.  They  were  pur- 
chased at  good  prices,  mostly  by  breeders  from  Pennsylvania, 
Ohio,  and  Kentucky,  and  distributed  widely  through  those  States. 

From  1835  up  to  1843,  several  importations  of  fine  stock 
were  made  by  Mr.  "Weddle,  an  English  emigrant,  to  Rochester, 
N.  Y.,  and  by  American  gentlemen,  among  whom  were  Messrs. 
E.  P.  Prentice,  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  Mr.  Jas.  Lenox,  and  Mr.  J. 
P.  Sheaffe,  of  New  York  city,  Messrs.  Le  Roy  and  Newbould, 
of  Livingston  county,  the  late  Peter  A.  Remsen,  of  Genesee 
county,  N.  Y.,  and  Mr.  "Whitney,  of  New  Haven,  Ct.,  Mr. 
Gibbons,  of  New  Jersey,  and  some  others,  not  now  recollected, 
— all  valuable  animals.  They  were  bred  for  some  years  by  their 
owners,  with  much  care.  Mr.  Prentice,  for  several  years,  had  a 
large  and  excellent  herd  on  his  home  farm.  After  some  years, 
all  these  herds  were  sold  and  widely  distributed.  Their  descend- 
ants still  remain  among  our  valuable  herds. 

In  the  year  1849-50,  Col.  J.  M.  Sherwood,  of  Auburn,  and 
Mr.  Ambrose  Stevens,  of  Batavia,  N.  Y.,  imported  from  the 
herd  of  Mr.  Bates  a  bull,  and  from  Mr.  Jno.  Stephenson,  of 
Durham,  England,  three  bulls  and  several  heifers,  all  choice 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  151 

animals,  and  successfully  bred  them  during  several  years.  The 
stock  became  widely  distributed,  and  well  known. 

About  the  year  1839,  Mr.  George  Vail,  of  Troy,  N.  Y., 
made  an  importation  of  a  bull  and  heifer,  purchased  of  Mr. 
Thomas  Bates,  of  Kirkleavington,  the  first  cattle  from  that 
particular  herd  which  had  been  introduced  into  the  State.  A  few 
years  later,  he  purchased  and  imported  several  more  cows  from 
the  herd  of  Mr.  Bates,  crosses  of  his  "Duchess"  and  other  fami- 
lies. He  bred  them  with  success,  and  widely  distributed  their 
blood.  Mr.  Vail  made  a  final  sale  of  his  herd  in  the  year  1852. 

A  period  of  some  years  now  occurred,  in  which  few  more,  if 
any,  short-horns  were  imported.  Cattle,  as  well  as  all  kinds  of 
agricultural  produce,  were  exceedingly  low ;  but  as  things  grew 
better,  the  demand  for  "blood"  cattle  revived,  and  the  spirit  for 
their  breeding  was  renewed.  Mr.  Thomas  Bates,  a  distinguished 
short-horn  breeder  in  England,  died  in  1849.  His  herd,  fully 
equal  in  quality  to  any  in  England,  was  sold  in  1850.  The 
choicest  of  them — of  the  "Duchess,"  and  "Oxford"  tribes — fell 
mostly  into  the  hands  of  the  late  Lord  Ducie,  at  Tortworth  Park, 
already  the  owner  of  a  noble  herd,  to  which  the  Bates  stock  was 
added.  He  was  a  skillful  breeder,  and  of  most  liberal  spirit,  and 
during  the  brief  time  he  held  them,  the  reputation  of  the  Bates 
stock,  if  possible,  increased.  Within  three  years  from  the  time  of 
the  sale  of  Mr.  Bates'  herd,  Lord  Ducie  died.  In  1853,  a  peremp- 
tory sale  of  his  stock  was  widely  advertised.  Allured  by  the 
reputation  of  his  herd,  several  American  gentlemen  went  over 
to  witness  it.  The  attendance  of  English  breeders  was  large, 
and  the  sales  averaged  higher  prices  in  individual  animals  than 
had  been  reached  since  the  famous  sale  of  Charles  Colling,  in 
1810.  Mr.  Samuel  Thome,  of  Dutchess  county,  N.  Y.,  bought 
several  of  tho  best  and  highest-priced  animals,  of  the  "Duchess" 
and  "Oxford"  tribes,  and  added  to  them  several  more  choice 
ones,  from  different  herds.  Messrs.  L.  G.  Morris,  and  the  late 


152  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Noel  J.  Becar,  of  New  York,  bought  others  of  the  "Duchess" 
and  "Oxfords,"  to  which  they  added  more  from  other  choice 
herds.  These  were  all  brought  over  here,  and  bred.  Mr.  Ezra 
Cornell,  of  Ithaca,  and  Mr.  James  0.  Sheldon,  of  Geneva,  N.  Y., 
soon  afterwards  made  some  importations,  and  obtained  some  of 
the  "  Bates  "  blood  also.  The  late  Gen.  James  S.  Wadsworth, 
and  other  gentlemen  of  the  Genesee  Valley,  N.  Y.,  also  made 
importations.  These  "Bates"  importations  have  since  been  bred 
so  successfully  by  their  holders  here,  that  several  young  bulls, 
and  heifers,  bred  by  Mr.  Thome  and  Mr.  Sheldon,  have  been 
purchased  by  English  breeders,  and  sent  over  to  them  at  good 
prices,  where  they  are  highly  valued. 

In  1852—3—4,  several  spirited  companies  were  formed  in 
Clinton,  Madison,  and  other  counties  iu  Ohio,  and  in  Bourbon, 
Fayette,  and  some  other  counties  of  Kentucky,  and  made 
importations  of  the  best  cattle  to  be  found  in  the  English  herds, 
and  after  their  arrival  here,  distributed  among  their  stockholders. 
Mr.  R.  A.  Alexander,  of  Kentucky,  also,  during  those  years, 
made  extensive  importations  of  choice  blood  for  his  own  breed- 
ing, so  that  in  the  year  1856,  it  may  be  said  that  the  United 
States  possessed,  according  to  their  numbers,  as  valuable  a  selec- 
tion of  short-horns  as  could  be  found  in  England  itself. 

Keeping  pace  with  the  States,  a  number  of  enterprising  Cana- 
dians, since  the  year  1835,  among  whom  may  be  named  the 
late  Mr.  Adam  Fergusson,  Mr.  Ilowitt,  Mr.  Wade,  the  Millers, 
near  Toronto,  Mr.  Frederick  "Wm.  Stone,  of  Guelph,  and  Mr. 
David  Christie,  of  Brantford,  in  Canada  West,  and  Mr.  M.  H. 
Cochrane  and  others,  in  Lower  Canada,  have  made  sundry 
importations  of  excellent  cattle,  and  bred  them  with  skill  and 
spirit.  Many  cattle  from  these  importations,  and  their  descend- 
ants,' have  been  interchanged  between  the  United  States  and 
Canada,  and  all  may  now  be  classed,  without  distinction,  as 
American  Short-horns. 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  153 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  American  investment  in  this 
breed  of  cattle,  is  large,  and  many  times  greater  in  "numbers,  and 
extending  over  a  wider  range  of  country,  than  with  all  other 
foreign  breeds  collectively.  Accurate  records  of  their  pedigrees 
are  made,  both  in  Britain  and  the  United  States,  so  that  their 
lineage  may  at  once  be  understood.  The  English  Herd  Book, 
now  numbering'  sixteen  volumes,  commenced  in  the  year  1822, 
contains  the  records  of  23,252  bulls,  and  more  than  30,000  cows; 
while  the  American  Herd  Book  of  eight  volumes,  commenc- 
ing in  1846,  contains  more  than  7,400  bulls,  and  over  12,000 
cows — items  showing  that  the  space  we  have  given  to  the  dis- 
cussion of  their  history  and  present  condition,  is  not  more  than 
their  importance  has  demanded. 

CHARACTERISTICS    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

They  may  be  divided  into  two  classes:  as  dairy,  and  flesh- 
producing  animals ;  and  first — for  the  dairy.  The  early  importa- 
tions into  the  United  States,  say  fifty  years  ago,  were  those 
chiefly  of  which  the  cows  excelled  as  milkers.  Remarkable 
yields  of  their  milk  and  butter  were  recorded  in  many  agricul- 
tural publications  of  the  day,  as  well  as  in  the  American  Short- 
horn Herd  Books  since. 

To  show  the  style  of  these  cattle,  on  the  following  page  we 
give  the  portaits  of  a  bull  and  cow,  from  a  prominent  English 
herd — Mr.  Strickland's — of  thorough  breds,  the  cows  of  which 
bore  a  high  reputation  for  milk,  forty  years  ago. 

"We  consider  these  as  beautiful  specimens  of  their  kind,  with 
fine  bone,  excellent  points,  and  every  way  well  developed  for 
the  dairy.  The  cow  was  a  celebrated  milker,  and  took  several 
first  prizes  at  different  exhibitions,  as  a  dairy  cow.  These 
portraits  are  copied  from  the  third  volume  of  Coates'  English 
Herd  Book. 


154 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


Plate  31.    Short-horn  Cow,  of  Milk  Stock. 


THE    S11OBT-HOBNS.  155 

Second — for  flesh.  Yielding  to  their  tendency  to  take  on 
flesh,  when  not  put  to  regular  dairy  use,  many  of  the  English 
breeders  began  to  breed  more  for  the  flesh-producing  property, 
both  in  bulls  and  heifers.  This  system  required  abundant  food 
from  early  calfhood  to  full  maturity.  It  gave  them  great 
rotundity  of  carcass,  rapid  growth,  and  early  ripeness.  So 
taking  were  these  well  fed  animals  to  the  eye,  coupled  with  the 
early  maturity  which  the  bulls  imparted  to  their  stock,  when 
crossed  on  the  inferior  cows  of  the  country — as  beef  was  a  prom- 
inent article  of  production  in  a  great  majority  of  the  counties  of 
England — that  the  tendency  to  breed  the  best  looking  cattle, 
extended  to  the  generality  of  short-horn  breeders.  Another 
thing,  perhaps,  encouraged  this  style  of  breeding — the  increas- 
ing demand  for  their  cattle  from  abroad.  The  earlier  American 
importations  had  been  mostly  into  the  Atlantic  States,  where  the 
milking  qualities  of  their  cows  were  more  in  demand  than  their 
flesh  for  the  shambles.  But  when  the  Ohio  Company  sent  to 
England,  in  the  year  1834,  for  a  herd  of  short-horns  with  which 
to  improve  the  western  herds,  flesh  was  their  chief  object,  and 
they  sought  such  cattle  as  showed  that  tendency  more  than  the 
other,  although  some  of  the  cows  which  they  brought  out,  and 
many  of  their  descendants,  as  we  have  known  from  personal 
observation  and  experience,  proved  remarkable  milkers,  both  in 
quantity  and  quality.  From  the  Ohio  importation  of  1834,  the 
successive  importations  have  been  mostly  of  that  description — 
full  fleshed,  of  rapid  growth,  great  development,  and  early 
maturity — so  much  so  that  the  modern  style  of  short-horns 
appear  widely  different  from  the  old  style,  as  shown  in  plate  19, 
to  which,  in  some  importations  of  many  years  ago,  we  have  seen 
almost  exact  resemblances. 

To  illustrate  the  modern  style,  which  is  now  almost  universally 
sought  by  the  majority  of  short-horn  breeders  in  our  country — 
for  out  of  the  Atlantic  States  they  appear  to  care  less  for  milk 


156 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


than  flesh — we  give  a  portrait  of  a  well  matured,  thorough  bred 
bull,  at  three  years  of  age. 


Plate  22.    Short-horn  Bull. 

In  the  above  portrait  the  wonderful  fullness  in  every  part  of 
the  carcass  is  illustrated,  putting  on  choice  flesh  in  places  where 
the  common  cattle  fail  to  give  it,  and  making  the  animal  valuable 
all  over,  with  no  more  offal  than  in  a  creature  of  a  third  less 
size  of  an  inferior  breed.  We  consider  this  as  showing  in  an 
eminent  degree,  the  distinction  between  the  beef-producing  and 
the  milk  yielding  tendency  of  the  short-horn,  in  appearance. 
The  one  is  that  of  exceeding  fullness,  the  other  of  a  tendency, 
in  the  cow,  (plate  20,)  to  leanness,  while  giving  much  milk, 
although  the  latter  may  feed  equally  well  when  no  longer  used 
for  the  pail.  In  the  following  portrait,  the  same  flesh-producing 
tendency  is  shown  in  the  female,  as  is  given  in  the  bull. 


THE    SHORT-HORNS. 


157 


We  add  the  portrait  of  a  heifer  at  two  years,  in  which  is  seen 
the  wonderful  development  of  her  race  at  that  early  age. 


Plate  23.    Short-horn  Heifer. 

They  cannot  be  classed  with  any  other  breed  of  cattle,  and 
are  not  to  be  accurately  judged  by  the  same  rules  that  apply  to 
them.  It  has  been  said  that  the  short-horn  is  an  artificial  breed. 
That  is  not  so.  That  they  have  been  greatly  improved  above 
their  original  condition,  is  true — more  highly  improved,  perhaps, 
than  any  other  breed — but  that  is  a  susceptibility  of  their  nature. 
It  is  an  evidence  that  they  originally  possessed  the  power  of 
such  improvement,  within  themselves,  for  we  have  seen,  in  their 
history,  that  there  is  no  known  race  which  has  shown  itself  capa- 
ble of  making  them  any  better.  Charles  Colling  tried  a  cross 
of  the  short-horn  with  the  Galloway.  He  improved  the  Gallo- 
way, but  not  the  short-horn,  and  abandoned  another  trial.  Mr. 
Bates,  a  breeder  for  more  than  fifty  years,  tried  it  with  the 


158  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Scotch  Kyioe,  or  Highland  breed,  for  two  or  three  crosses,  with 
the  same  result  as  Colling,  and  abandoned  it  also.  Other 
stealthy  crosses  may  have  been  made  by  other  early  breeders,  but 
with  no  good  results  to  the  short-horns — that  they  ever  acknow- 
edged.  Their  advocates  claim  that  they — the  short-horns — 
improve  every  other  breed  with  which  they  have  been  crossed, 
as  an  economical  animal.  That  question,  however,  we  shall 
not  argue. 

A  general  description  of  a  good  short-horn,  may  be  as  follows . 
Head — the  muzzle  fine  and  yellowish,  or  drab  in  color,  not 
smoky*  or  black;  the  face  slightly  dishing,  or  concave;  the  eye 
full  and  bright ;  the  forehead  broad ;  the  horns  showing  no  black 
except  at  the  tips,  and  standing  wide  at  the  base,  short,  oval- 
shaped,  spreading  gracefully  out,  and  then  curving  in  with  a 
downward  inclination,  or  turning  upward  with  a  still  further 
spread,  (as  either  form  is  taken  without  prejudice  to  purity  of 
blood  in  the  animal,)  of  a  waxy  color,  and  sometimes  darker  at 
the  tips ;  the  throat  clean,  without  dewlap ;  the  ear  sizable,  thin, 
and  quickly  moving;  the  neck  full,  setting  well  into  the  shoul- 
ders and  breast,  with  a  slight  pendulous  hanging  of  the  skin, 
(not  a  dewlap,)  just  at  the  brisket;  the  shoulders  nearly  straight, 
and  wide  at  the  tops;  the  shoulder-points,  or  neck- vein,  wide 
and  full;  the  brisket  broad,  low,  and  projecting  well  forward, 

*  It  ia  supposed  by  many  persons  that  a  dark,  or  black  nose,  indicates  impurity 
of  blood.  This  is  not  always  so.  A  black,  or  even  a  dark  nose  is  not  desirable  in  a 
breeding  short-horn,  because  they  are  decidedly  unfashionable,  and  to  a  breeder  of 
choice  animals  they  are  unsaleable  at  almost  any  price.  Yet  many  of  the  purely 
bred  short-horns  (so  admitted)  of  a  century  ago,  and  even  less,  had  some  black- 
noses  among  them.  With  all  modern  breeders,  the  dark-noses  have  been  sedulously 
bred  out  of  their  herds,  their  repugnance  to  them  often  going  so  far  as  to  slaughter- 
ing them  in  calf  hood.  Custom  has  obtained  so  far  as  to  rule  a  black-nosed  short- 
horn out  of  competition  with  the  drab,  cream-colored,  or  yellow-noses,  as  prize 
animals.  A  skin-colored,  or  white-nose  is  also  objectionable,  though  not  to  the 
same  extent,  as  indicative  of  a  want  of  stamina  in  the  animal,  while  a  black,  or  dark 
nose  indicates  hardihood  and  good  constitution.  On  the  whole,  although  not  con- 
clusive of  bad,  or  mixed  blood,  black-noses  are  not,  at  the  present  day,  admissible. 


THE   SHORT-HORNS.  159 

sometimes  so  much  as  almost  to  appear  a  deformity;  the  arm 
gracefully  tapering  to  the  knee,  and  below  that  a  leg  of  fine 
bone,  ending  with  a  well  rounded  foot;  the  ribs  round  and  full, 
(giving  free  play  to  vigorous  lungs,)  and  running  back  well 
towards  the  hips;  the  crops  full,  but  as  a  rule  scarcely  equal  in 
fullness  to  the  Devons;  the  chine  and  back  straight  from  the 
shoulders  to  the  tail ;  the  hips  uncommonly  wide,  and  level  with 
the  back  and  loin;  the  loin  full  and  level;  the  rumps  wide;  the 
tail  set  on  a  level  with  the  back,  small  and  tapering;  the  thigh 
full  and  heavily  fleshed ;  the  twist  wide ;  the  flank  low  and  full ; 
the  hock,  or  gambrel  joint,  standing  straight,  (as  with  the  horse,) 
or  nearly  so;  the  hind  leg,  like  the  fore  one,  clean  and  sinewy, 
and  the  foot  small. 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  short-horn  differs  from  most 
other  breeds,  in  its  fullness  and  rotundity  of  carcass,  and  in  the 
small  amount  of  waste  flesh  and  bone,  or  offal  that  it  carries, 
in  proportion  to  the  consumable  flesh  it  may  lay  on. 

The  true  colors  of  well  bred  short-horns  range  from  pure  white 
to  deep  red ;  and  between  these  colors,  either  of  which  frequently 
comprise  the  whole  animal,  their  intermixtures  in  all  variations 
of  roan;  as  light  roan,  with  the  white  predominating  over  the 
red;  red  roan,  with  the  red  prevailing  over  the  white,  as  either 
may  over  the  other  in  different  degrees;  red  and  white  flecked, 
or  spotted  in  every  possible  way.  The  red  may  also  vary  in 
shade  from  light,  or  yellow-red,  into  the  deepest  mahogany. 
The  old-fashioned  short-horns  sometimes  showed  a  drab-dun,  or 
fawn  color,  mixed  with  white,  which  we  have  in  some  instances 
•seen  crop  out  in  one  of  later  days.  "We  have  also  seen  a  very 
few  instances  of  dark  brown  roan — almost  smoky  in  shade, 
among  those  of  excellent  quality,  and  unimpeachable  pedigree. 
But  the  clear  white,  and  full  red  colors,  either  by  themselves,  or 
intermixed  in  various  beautiful  and  picturesque  proportions,  are 
the  prevailing  colors  of  our  own  time.  Some  of  our  breeders 


160  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

have  a  prejudice  against  the  purely  white  coating  of  a  short- 
horn, as  indicative  of  a  less  hardy  constitution  in  the  animal 
possessing  it;  but  we  see  no  good  reason,  other  things  being 
equal,  why  a  white  color — as  it  truly  belongs  to  the  breed,  and 
descended,  perhaps,  from  red  or  roan  parents — should  be  a  defect 
in  the  useful  quality  of  the  animal  having  it.  It  is  simply 
yielding  to  a  popular  prejudice  outside  of  short-horn  circles. 

The  cow  differs  from  the  bull  only  in  the  feminine  qualities  of 
her  sex,  as  our  illustrations  have  shown. 

AS    A    DAIRY    COW, 

Popular  opinion,  among  those  not  particularly  acquainted  with 
their  history  or  breeding,  is  widely  at  variance.  They  are  the 
greatest  milkers,  in  quantity,  of  any  breed  whatever — with  the 
exception  of  the  Dutch — as  innumerable  facts  have  shown;  or 
they  may  be  comparatively  inferior,  as  education,  keeping,  or 
purpose  may  govern,  as  we  have  just  related.  These  matters 
will  be  explained  in  a  subsequent  chapter,  on  breeding.  "We 
have  numerous  well  authenticated  instances  of  their  giving  six, 
seven,  eight,  and  even  nine  gallons  a  day,  on  grass  alone,  in  the 
heighth  of  their  season,  and  yielding  fourteen  to  eighteen  pounds 
of  butter  per  week,  and  of  holding  out  in  their  milk,  in  propor- 
tionate quantity,  as  well  as  other  breeds  of  cows,  through  the 
year.  Cows  so  much  larger  in  size  than  of  other  breeds,  should 
be  expected  to  give  more  than  smaller  ones,  that  consume  less 
food;  and  without  asserting  that  they  do  give  more,  in  propor- 
tion to  their  size,  it  is  claimed  that  when  educated  and  used  for 
the  dairy  chiefly,  they  give  quite  as  much  as  any  others.  That 
the  inherent  quality  of  abundant  milking  exists  in  the  short- 
horns, no  intelligent  breeder  of  them  need  doubt.  Our  own 
observation,  in  more  than  thirty  years'  experience  with  hundreds 
of  them,  first  and  last,  under  our  own  eyes,  is  to  ourself,  evidence 
of  the  fact,  both  in  thorough  breds  and  grades. 


THE    gHORT-HORXS.  161 

If  the  breeder's  attention  be  turned  solely  to  the  dairy  quality, 
he  succeeds  in  obtaining,  with  few  exceptions,  good  milkers.  If 
he  turn  his  attention,  regardless  of  milk,  to  the  grazing  qualities 
of  his  stock,  he  can  gradually  breed  out  the  tendency  to  milk  in 
his  cows,  beyond  a  sufficiency  to  raise  the  calf  to  six  or  eight 
months  old ;  and  perhaps  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  tendency 
of  too  many  breeders  is  to  the  latter.  Breeding  for  the  grazing 
quality  solely,  tends,  indisputably,  to  give  them  more. comely 
proportions,  and  greater  size  than  when  bred  for  the  dairy.  It  is 
as  the  animal  is  bred,  either  way,  that  strikes  the  observer, 
whether  the  short-horn  cow,  as  a  race,  is  either  a  good  or  poor 
milker,  without  a  proper  experience  to  confirm  his  judgment; 
and  therefore  we  say  that  she  may  be  either  good  or  inferior, 
in  that  quality,  as  the  breeder  chooses  to  have  it. 

AS    A    WORKING    OX, 

We  cannot  highly  recommend  the  high  bred  short-horn  for  that 
purpose  solely.  From  his  massive  frame,  and  inclination  under 
full  feed,  to  take  on  flesh,  he  is  sluggish  in  movement.  His 
shoulders  are  too  upright  for  easy  draft,  unlike  the  Devon,  or 
Hereford,  or  even  our  native  ox.  His  natural  step  is  slow.  We 
have  seen  the  thorough  bred  short-horn  ox  worked  in  the  yoke. 
We  have  had,  in  the  dull  days  of  short-horns,  several  pairs  in 
farm  work,  some  years,  and  although  they  proved  honest,  stout, 
and  obedient,  we  preferred  others  for  quickness  in  movement. 
Crossed  upon  the  native  cow,  or  with  the  Hereford,  or  Devon, 
as  half  bloods,  they  prove  excellent  workers.  Some  breeders 
contend  that  the  thorough  bred  short-horn  ox  is  as  good  a  worker 
as  any  other;  but  the  weight  of  evidence  does  not  confirm  the 
assertion;  still,  they  do  work,  and  that  quite  tolerably,  but  they 
have  neither  the  wind,  speed,  or  bottom  of  the  lighter  and  more 
active  breeds. 

AS    A    BEEF    ANIMAL. 

We  give  an  excellent  portrait  of  a  three  years  (past)  prize  ox, 
exhibited,  some  years  ago,  at  the  Smithficld  market,  in  London, 


162 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


Eng.,  copied  from  "The  Farmers'  Magazine."      We  have  seen 
many  equally  good  ones  in  the  United  States. 


Plate  24.    Short-horn  Ox. 

It  is  held,  as  a  flesh-producing  animal,  that  in  early  maturity, 
weight  of  meat,  ripeness  of  points,  and  giving  the  most  flesh  in 
the  best  places,  the  great  merit  of  the  short-horn  is  found. 
We  have  spoken  of  the  Devon,  the  Highland,  and  Galloway,  as 
having  flesh  of  finer  grain,  and  tenderer  quality,  and  bearing  a 
better  price  in  a  fastidious  market.  But  choice  purchasers  are 
few,  compared  with  the  mass,  and  he  who  feeds  cattle  for  the 
general  market,  wants  the  animal  which  makes  the  quickest  and 
most  profitable  returns  for  the  capital  invested,  and  the  food  con- 
sumed. The  short-horn  at  three  years,  past,  well  fatted,  is  fit 
for  slaughter,  equally  with  the  Devon  or  Hereford  at  the  same 
age,  or  the  Highland  Scot  or  Galloway,  at  four  years,  or  the 
"native"  at  five  or  six  years.  He  is  claimed  by  many  to  be  a 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  163 

less  feeder  for  his  weight.  There  may  be  truth  in  this,  as  he  is 
less  active,  and  more  inclined  to  take  his  rest,  than  the  lighter 
breeds,  which  are  less  sluggish  in  their  habits.  All  these  ques- 
tions are  of  great  consideration  with  the  breeder  or  grazier,  who 
rears  stock  for  market.  A  quick  return  for  capital  and  food,  is 
the  object,  and  that  animal  which  gives  it  in  the  shortest  time,  is 
always  preferred.  Hence  one  decided  advantage  of  the  short- 
horn. 

THE    PROPER    HOMES    OF    THE    SHORT-HORNS. 

There  is  a  question,  however,  with  him  who  breeds  or  grazes 
the  short-horn  that  must  be  considered,  notwithstanding  his  apti- 
tude for  early  maturity.  They  must  have  abundant  feed  and 
good  pasturage.  Broken  lands,  with  short  grasses,  do  not  so 
well  suit  them.  Level,  or  gently  undulating  soils,  with  luxu-. 
riant  grasses  upon  them,  suit  them  better.  We  have  immense 
tracts  of  lean  and  hungry  soils,  with  scanty  herbage,  where  we 
would  not  recommend  the  short-horn  to  go,  and  where  some  of 
the  smaller  breeds,  as  the  Devon,  Highland,  and  Galloway,  will 
thrive  and  prove  profitable;  and  for  such  lands  they  should  be 
preferred. 

Some  have  objected  to  the  short-horns  as  unfitted  for  a  cold 
climate.  That  objection  has  proved  of  little  weight.  Northern 
England,  and  the  adjoining  counties  of  southern  Scotland,  have 
produced,  and  improved  them  in  their  highest  perfection,  and 
the  latitudes  of  America,  from  41/-J  to  45°  north,  equally  as  well, 
under  good  winter  protection,  as  the  milder  temperatures  of  Ohio, 
Illinois,  or  Kentucky.  The  soil  and  feeding  does  the  work, 
not  the  climate,  provided  the  latter  be  temperate,  and  proper 
shelter  in  the  inclement  seasons  be  afforded.  For  near  fifty 
years,  in  the  better  sections  of  what  are  considered  the  compara- 
tive sterile  and  cold  New  England  States,  the  short-horn  has 
lived  and  flourished — more  rapidly  of  late  than  ever — and 
been  successfully  introduced  into  the  north-eastern  British  Prov- 


164  AMERICAN     CATTLE. 

inces,  and  both  the  Canadas.  The  severe  winters  of  the  North 
appear  to  be  no  bar  to  their  success.  How  far  South  they  may 
go,  is  yet  to  be  tried.  Wherever  the  proper  herbage  will  grow 
— the  blue  grass,  for  instance — they  may  be  successfully  intro- 
duced ;  but  somewhat  of  care  they  must  have,  or  they  will, 
unquestionably  dwindle. 

For  the  improvement  of  our  native  cattle,  either  for  the  dairy 
or  the  shambles,  no  foreign  breed  has  been  so  much  sought. 
They  have  spread  all  through  the  Northern  and  Middle  States, 
all  over  the  West,  have  been  driven  over  the  plains  into  Cali- 
fornia, and  even  to  Oregon,  in  the  valleys  of  the  Williamette  and 
the  Columbia.  They  appear  destined  to  go  into  every  place 
where  cattle  are  successfully  bred,  and  good  herbage  abounds,  as 
being  the  stock  which,  whatever  may  be  the  merits  of  others,  in 
certain  localities,  must,  in  the  majority,  prevail. 

That  in  their  native  country,  England,  the  short-horns  are 
rapidly  increasing,  as  well  as  extending  into  the  more  fertile 
lands  of  Wales,  Scotland,  and  Ireland,  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  of  New 
York,  who  visited  many  of  the  chief  agricultural  counties  there, 
in  the  year  1841,  and  again  in  the  summer  of  1867,  in  a  recent 
letter  remarks :  "  When  I  was  first  in  England,  the  short-horns 
were  confined  to  a  comparatively  narrow  territory,  and  those 
chiefly  in  the  north-easterly  and  central  counties.  Now,  they  are 
seen,  either  thorough  bred,  or  in  their  crosses,  in  almost  every 
part  of  the  United  Kingdom  where  good  grasses  and  the  best 
agriculture  prevail.  Not  only  in  the  fields  of  the  ordinary  farm- 
ers, but  in  many  of  the  finest  parks  of  the  nobility  and  gentry, 
their  grand  forms,  and  picturesque  colors,  show,  in  abounding 
numbers,  grazing  among  the  deer,  or  in  occasional  groups  among 
the  clustered  woods,  or  in  the  open  pleasure  grounds.  I  found 
them  even  working  on  towards  the  Scottish  Highlands,  trench- 
ing into  the  homes  of  the  Ayrshires,  and  Galloways,  and  cross- 
ing, more  or  less,  into  almost  all  the  old  local  breeds. 


THE    SHORT-HORNS.  165 

"  Whether  it  is  because  they  have  become  the  fashion,  or  are 
thus  spreading  on  their  own  individual  merits  over  the  others,  I 
did  not  so  much  inquire,  but  concluded  from  the  fact  of  their 
increasing  propagation  among  farmers,  where  almost  everything 
is  made  to  pay,  that  they  find  them  their  most  profitable  neat 
stock.  Still,  they  cannot  profitably  thrive  everywhere,  and  wide 
ranges  of  land  exist,  both  in  Britain  and  America,  where  differ- 
ent breeds,  better  fitted  to  close  pasturage  and  rougher  soils, 
must  be  kept,  as  more  suitable  to  the  wants  and  purposes  of  the 
people  who  inhabit  them." 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  HOLSTEIN,  OR  DUTCH  CATTLE. 

IN  a  previous  part  of  our  work,  we  have  mentioned  this  breed, 
as  being  early  introduced  into  America  by  the  Dutch  emigrants 
at  New  York;  but  not  as  cattle  of  superior  distinctive  charac- 
ter, or  "improvement,"  as  a  race,  yet  varying  from  the  early 
imported  English  cattle  in  some  characteristics  of  color  and 
form.  "We  know  nothing  of  the  early  Dutch  cattle,  in  particulars, 
other  than  that  they  were  considered  valuable  for  milk,  arid 
labor. 

There  is  a  class,  or  breed  of  cattle,  now  existing  in  North 
Holland,  which  have  been  greatly  improved  within  the  last 
century.  That  is  eminently  a  dairy  country,  and  the  cows  of 
the  farmers  and  dairymen  there,  receive  a  care  and  attention 
beyond  any  other  domestic  animal  used  in  the  agriculture  of  the 
people. 

We  get  little  account  of  these  cattle  from  British  authors, 
except  incidentally,  and  that  of  so  vague  a  kind  as  to  lead  to  no 
accurate  conclusions.  In  our  history  of  the  short-horns,  wo 
have  alluded  to  the  probability  that  they  were,  at  a  very  early 
day,  originally  derived  from  the  neighboring  continent;  and  they 
may  have  descended  from  the  same  common  ancestry  to  which 
the  present  improved  breed  of  Holstein,  and  Holland,  trace 
their  lineage.  Their  forms,  and  general  appearance,  in  all  but 


TIIE    HOLSTEIXS.  167 

color,  indicate  that  they  may  have  sprung  from  a  common 
source ;  but  there  is  a  sufficient  distinction  between  them  to  show 
that,  for  centuries  past,  they  have  been  bred  for  somewhat  dif- 
ferent uses,  by  different  nationalities,  and  under  a  different 
system  of  agriculture. 

We  need  not  go  into  the  various  past  controversies,  and  sup- 
positions, touching  upon  the  importation  of  Dutch  cattle  into 
England,  for  the  purpose  of  improving  the  English  short-horns, 
nor  the  counter  importation  of  English  short-horns  into  Hoi- 
stein,  or  North  Holland,  to  improve  their  own  native  stock. 
Of  the  facts  relating  to  these  controversies,  little  is  positively 
known,  and  the  traditions,  and  suppositions,  connected  with 
them,  are  of  such  uncertain  authority,  as  to  lead  to  no  accurate 
result,  if  we  should  attempt  their  investigation.  We  are  con- 
tent to  let  the  matter  rest  on  the  one  indisputable  fact,  that  the 
improved  "Dutch"  cattle  of  the  present  day,  in  many  of  their 
characteristics,  do  possess  so  great  a  resemblance  to  the  short- 
horns, that  no  wide  stretch  of  imagination  need  be  exercised  to 
presume  that  the  progenitors  of  each — many  centuries  ago — 
may  have  been  traced  to  a  common  ancestry. 

Of  the  time,  at  which  any  very  considerable  improvement  was 
attempted  in  th<»  Holstein  cattle,  we  have  no  definite  knowl- 
edge. It  must  have  been  more  than  a  century — perhaps  two 
or  three  centuries — ago,  as  it  is  only  by  a  continuous  and  fixed 
system  of  breeding,  for  a  long  time,  that  the  undeviating,  consti- 
tutional characteristics  of  any  breed  of  cattle  can  become  so 
established  as  to  transmit  them  with  entire  certainty  to  their 
progeny.  These  characteristics,  the  present  improved  Holstein 
cattle  do  obviously  possess,  in  a  sufficient  degree  to  class  them  as 
a  breed  by  themselves ;  and  as  such,  we  shall  treat  them. 

Their  surpassing  excellence  appears  to  be  in  their  milking 
qualities,  coupled  with  large  size,  and  a  compact,  massive  frame, 
capable  of  making  good  beef;  and  in  the  oxen,  strong,  laboring 


168  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

animals.  They  are  almost  invariably  black  and  white  in  color, 
spotted,  pied,  or  mottled  in  picturesque  inequalities  of  propor- 
tion over  the  body.  The  horn  is  short,  and  the  hair  is  short, 
fine  and  silky.  The  lacteal  formations  in  the  cows  are  wonder- 
ful, thus  giving  them  their  preeminence  in  the  dairy.  Our 
illustrations  will  show  these  prominent  characteristics  so  plainly, 
that  further  description  is  unnecessary. 

It  was  but  recently  that  this  valuable  breed  of  dairy  cat- 
tle, in  their  now  improved  condition,  except  in  a  few  casual 
importations,  found  their  way  to  America.  The  late  Mr. 
William  Jarvis,  of  Wethersfield,  "Vt.,  one  of  the  celebrated 
importers  of  Merino  sheep,  in  the  early  part  of  the  present 
century,  brought  out  a  bull  and  two  cows,  and  put  them  on  his 
farm,  where  he  bred  them  successfully  for  some  years.  They 
were  crossed  with  the  common  cattle  of  his  vicinity,  and  after 
some  years  the  pure  blood  became  lost.  People  were  careless 
of  pure  blood  in  cattle  in  those  days,  not  much  knowing  or 
appreciating  its  value. 

The  late  Mr.  Herman  Le  Roy,  a  distinguished  merchant  of 
New  York,  between  the  years  1820  and  1825,  imported  some 
improved  Dutch  cattle  into  that  city,  and  kept  them  on  a  farm 
in  its  vicinity.  Some  of  them  were,  about  the  years  1827-8-9, 
sent  to  the  farm  of  his  son,  the  late  Edward  A.  Le  Roy,  on  the 
Grenesee  river,  in  that  State.  We  saw  them,  and  their  produce 
there,  in  1833.  They  were  large,  well-spread  cattle,  black  and 
white  in  color,  and  remarkable  for  their  uncommon  yield  of  milk. 
The  younger  Mr.  Le  Roy  soon  after  imported  several  short- 
horns- from  England,  with  which  the  Dutch  cows  were  crossed 
— not  because  he  disliked  the  Dutch,  but  more  probably  because 
the  short-horns  stood  higher  in  popular  favor,  and  more  generally 
in  request  by  the  cattle  breeding  public.  In  the  herds  of  both 
father  and  son,  the  pure  breed  was  lost,  as  none  but  grades  were 
found  in  the  herds  subsequent  to  the  sale  of  the  farms  of  these 


THE    HOLSTEINS.  169 

gentlemen,  a  few  years  afterwards.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that 
the  blood  of  those  importations,  should  have  been  so  soon  lost 
by  a  lack  of  interest  in  their  propagation.  They  were  of  great 
value  as  dairy  animals,  as  their  qualities  in  that  line  were  univer- 
sally acknowledged  where  they  were  known. 

In  the  year  1852,  an  importation,  consisting  of  a  single  cow, 
was  made  into  Boston,  Mass.,  by  Mr.  "Winthrop  "W.  Chenery, 
of  that  city.  Her  extraordinary  good  qualities  led  him  to  a 
further  importation  of  a  bull  and  two  cows,  in  1857;  and  to  the 
importation  of  four  more  cows,  in  1859.  Most  unfortunately 
the  "-cattle  plague"  broke  out  in  this  herd  in  the  year  1859-60, 
and  the  originals,  and  all  their  thorough  bred  descendants,  with 
the  exception  of  a  young  bull,  were  destroyed  under  a  law  of  the 
State,  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  disease.  In  the  year  1861, 
Mr.  Chenery  made  another  importation  of  a  bull  and  four  cows, 
which  came  out  in  good  condition.  He  placed  them  on  his  farm 
in  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  where  they  have  since  been  success- 
fully bred — the  only  herd  of  pure  bred  "Holstein,  or  Dutch 
cattle,"  known  in  the  country;  except  their  descendants,  which 
may  be  in  some  other  hands. 

These  animals  were  procured  from  the  best  dairy  herds  in  the 
vicinity  of  Beemster  and  Purmurend,  in  the  Province  of  North 
Holland,  with  a  special  care  to  their  sanitary  condition,  and  their 
possession  of  all  the  highly  esteemed  qualities  of  their  race.  As 
such,  they  were  certified  by  the  official  authorities  of  the  dis- 
trict where  they  were  bred.  As  this  breed  are  strangers  to  the 
masses  of  our  cattle  breeders  and  graziers,  and  may  in  time 
become  important  instruments  in  promoting  the  dairy  interests 
of  the  country,  a  somewhat  particular  account  may  be  given  of 
some  of  them,  by  which  to  judge  of  the  improvement  they  may 
give  to  our  native  herds. 

A  four  years  old  bull  girts  7  feet  10  inches;  his  length  is 
8  feet  7  inches;  height,  4  feet  11  inches;  weight,  2465  pounds. 


170 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


"We  give  an  accurate  portrait  of  the  bull,  as  taken  by  our  artist 
in  the  month  of  February,  of  this  year. 


Plate  25.    Holstein  Bull. 

The  colors  of  this  bull,  like  all  his  race,  are  jet  black  and 
clear  white. 

The  four  imported  cows,  each  seven  years  old,  have  an  average 
weight  of  1325  pounds.  The  weight  of  a  past  two  years  old 
heifer  is  1240  pounds.  A  past  yearling  heifer  weighed  960 
pounds;  and  the  weight  of  six  calves,  at  an  average  of  eight 
months,  reared  in  the  usual  way,  without  forcing,  was  an  aver- 
age of  576  pounds  each. 

The  milking  qualities  of  the  breed  may  be  judged  by  the  fol- 
lowing memoranda :  One  of  the  imported  cows,  when  six  years 
old,  dropped  a  calf  on  the  15th  of  May,  weighing  101  pounds; 
and  from  the  26th  of  May,  to  the  27th  of  July,  by  a  careful  and 


THE    HOLSTEINS.  171 

exact  record,  gave  4018  pounds  14  ounces  of  milk.  The  largest 
yield  in  any  one  day,  was  76  pounds  5  ounces,  (35jf$  quarts.) 
In  ten  days,  she  gave  744  pounds  12  ounces,  or  an  average 
of  74  j^  pounds  per  day.  She  gave  a  good  flow  of  milk 
during  the  season,  continuing  to  the  24th  of  May  following, 
and  on  the  succeeding  day  dropped  twin  heifer  calves,  which 
weighed  155  pounds.  The  amount  of  cream  produced  from  this 
cow  s  milk,  in  a  vessel  specially  prepared  for  measuring  it,  pro- 
duced 22  jk%  per  cent  of  the  milk,  as  tested  by  an  accurate 
examination.  The  nutritive  qualities  of  the  milk  were  also 
tested  by  a  thorough  chemical  analysis,  and  found  to  be  excellent. 
It  was  also  rich  in  its  caseine,  or  cheese  making  properties.  Six 
days'  milk  of  this  cow  were  set  for  cream,  and  the  produce  was 
17  pounds  14  ounces  of  good  butter — nearly  3  pounds  per  day; 
and  it  is  claimed  by  her  owner  that  she  is  not  the  very  best  cow 
of  the  herd. 

These  results  show  not  only  the  remarkable  productions  of 
the  cow,  but  the  accurate  and  pains-taking  care  of  the  proprietor 
of  the  herd,  in  testing  their  ability  at  the  pail.  Of  what  the 
food  given  to  the  cow  was  composed,  we  are  not  informed.  "We 
are  to  presume,  however,  it  was  of  the  best,  as  every  cow  should 
have,  to  test  to  the  utmost,  her  lacteal  faculties. 

FOB    THE    DAIRY, 

The  qualities  of  the  Holsteins  must  be  acknowledged  as  remark- 
able. The  short-horns,  as  in  many  instances  of  trial,  have 
hitherto  acknowledged  no  superior;  yet  they  have  now,  in  these 
new  strangers  to  our  soil,  to  say  the  least,  found  most  formidable 
competitors,  and  an  opportunity  is  here  offered,  by  those  who 
cultivate  them  for  the  dairy,  to  test  their  long  acknowledged 
good  qualities  by  comparison.  The  Holsteins  have  been  long  bred 
and  cultivated  with  a  view  to  develop  their  lacteal  production  to 
the  utmost ;  and  that  they  are  quick  feeders,  and  physiologically 
constituted  to  turn  their  food  readily  to  milk,  must  be  evident. 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


We  give  an  accurate  portrait  of  one  of  the  cows,  taken  by 
our  artist  in  February,  1867.  She  stands  the  model  of  a  perfect 
milker,  with  all  the-  mammary  veins  and  udder  glands  in  the 
highest  state  of  development. 


Plate  26.    Holstein  Cow. 

We  are  gratified  that  this  valuable  importation  has  been 
made  by  its  public  spirited  owner,  for  the  benefit  of  our  cattle 
and  dairy  interests,  and  trust  that  their  merits  will  spread  far 
and  wide,  beyond  the  limited  territory  where  they  have  in  such 
brief  time,  been  so  thoroughly  tested.  The  grade  heifers,  by 
the  Holstein  bull,  on  other  cows  of  different  breeds,  are  said  to 
inherit  much  of  the  good  milking  qualities  of  the  Dutch  blood. 

AS    A    BEEF    ANIMAL, 

Their  merits  have  been,  as  yet,  but  partially  tried  in  the  half- 
breds,  or  grades  from  the  Holstein  bull,  on  the  natives,  or  other 
cows  of  different  breeds.  So  far,  however,  they  are  ^claimed  to 


THE    HOLSTEINS.  173 

be  satisfactory.  A  pair  of  oxen,  five  years  old,  gave  a  live  weight 
of  4,600  pounds,  and  proved  superior  workers,  showing  that 
they  were  trained  for  labor,  and  not  for  beef  alone.  We  have 
personally  seen  and  examined  several  of  the  animals  of  this 
herd,  and  from  those  specimens — to  which  the  portraits  do  no 
more  than  justice — we  should  pronounce  them  good  grazing  and 
feeding  cattle,  in  addition  to  their  preeminence  for  the  dairy. 

AS    A  WORKING    OX, 

They  will  probably  rank  with  other  heavy  cattle  of  like  quality 
— better  in  their  grades  with  the  lighter  and  more  active  breeds, 
no  doubt,  than  in  the  thorough  breds — as  with  the  short-horn 
crosses.  They  are  entitled  to  a  fair  trial,  and  in  the  hands  of 
proper  parties,  their  entire  merits  cannot  fail  to  be  thoroughly 
and  advantageously  developed.  We  consider  Mr.  Chenery's 
importation  a  decided  acquisition  to  the  cattle  interests  of  our 
country,  and  trust  that  they  will  become  widely  known  and 
distributed. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  SPANISH,  OR  TEXAN  CATTLE. 

WE  should  hardly  speak  of  this  strange  race  of  animals,  were 
it  not  that  of  late  years  they  have  found  their  way,  to  some 
extent,  into  our  sea-board  markets.  They  are  the  descendants 
of  the  early  Spanish  stock  introduced  into  Mexico  in  the  six- 
teenth century.  What  they  were  when  first  imported  there,  we 
have  no  knowledge,  but  presume  them  to  be  of  the  same  race  as 
those  long  kept  by  the  Moors  on  the  plains  of  Andalusia,  and 
by  their  successors,  the  Castilians,  for  many  centuries — of  no 
great  excellence  in  Spain,  and  not  at  all  improved  in  Mexico. 

In  a  recent  letter  from  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  of  New  York, 
-(received  in  July,  1867,)  then  traveling  in  Spain,  between  Gibral- 
tar and  Granada,  he  thus  describes  the  Spanish  cattle  of  the 
present  day,  as  he  saw  them  there:  "I  have  seen  numerous 
Spanish  herds.  They  are  about  the  size  of  our  old-fashioned 
common  cattle.  They  have  large,  coarse,  long  and  wide-spread 
horns,  mostly  with  a  half,  or  full  twist  to  them,  and  set  back, 
rather  than  forward,  with  the  points  outward.  Their  colors  are 
black,  dark  brown,  reddish-brown,  light  yellowish-red,  with  some 
white  on  the  throat  and  belly,  and  occasionally  a  black  and  white 
roan,  or  dark  grey.  The  cows  are  nearly  as  large  as  the  oxen, 
with  the  same  style  of  horn.  They  do  not  appear  to  be  good 
milkers.  The  heads  are  long,  and  rather  fine.  The  herdsmen 
attend  them  in  droves  with  dogs,  like  the  short-haired  Scotch 
Colleys." 


THE    TEXANS.  175 

In  this  brief  description,  may  easily  be  detected  the  origin  of 
the  modern  Texan  cattle,  run  wild  for  many  generations,  while 
the  Spanish  are  thoroughly  domestic  in  their  habits,  and  treated 
with  care,  as  the  density  of  population,  and  close  husbandry  of 
the  Spanish  people  at  home,  compel  them  to  be.  Undoubtedly 
the  originals  are  much  better  animals  under  the  treatment  they 
receive,  than  their  half-savage  cousins,  at  such  a  far  distant 
removal. 

The  Texans  are,  in  fact,  a  semi-wild  race  in  America,  the 
mild  climate  of  the  tropics,  with  its  abundant  perennial  herbage, 
affording  them  all  of  food  which  their  natures  require.  There 
they  range,  propagate  and  grow,  with  little  care,  congregating 
in  large  herds,  and  known  by  their  owners  only  by  the  marks,  or 
brands,  they  put  upon  them.  They  are  annually  gathered  for 
identification,  when  the  young  calves  are  castrated,  and  those  fit 
to  sell,  selected  and  driven  .to  market.  The  cattle  pay  little 
attention  to  the  widely  scattered  randies  of  their  owners,  and 
rove  for  miles  away,  attracted  by  better  pasturage,  the  scattered 
salt-licks,  or  in  the  indulgence  of  their  own  vagarious  habits. 
We  illustrate  on  the  following  page,,  a  group  of  the  bullocks, 
drawn  by  our  artist  as  they  stood  in  a  cattle  yard,  on  their 
arrival  at  market. 

These  portraits  are  truthful,  as  we  saw  them  in  a  herd  of  about 
forty  in  number,  and  know  them  to  be  correct.  Their  live 
weights,  at  the  time — the  animals  ranging  from  five  to  seven 
years — averaged  1,008  pounds.  A  short  description  will  suffice. 

They  are  tall,  lank,  and  bony,  coarse  headed,  with  enormous 
horns;  (only  exceeded  in  length  by  a  pair  in  our  own  possession, 
brought  from  the  Island  of  Sicily,  in  the  Mediterranean.  The 
shells  of  these  Sicilian  horns,  are  three  feet  four  inches  in  length, 
spiral,  and  gracefully  turned,  thin,  and  almost  transparent.) 
Their  legs  are  long  and  coarse;  they  have  much  dewlap,  and 
little  brisket;  are  flat-sided,  swayed  in  the  back,  high  in  the 


THE    TEXANS.  177 

flank,  with  narrow  hips  and  quarters,  great  offal  in  proportion  to 
their  consumable  flesh,  and  coarse  all  over.  Their  meat  must 
be  stringy,  tough,  and  of  coarse  quality.  Wild  and  savage  in 
appearance,  they  looked  scarcely  more  civilized  than  a  herd  of 
Dacotah  Buffaloes. 

In  contrast  to  the  specimens  above  described,  it  is  but  fair  to 
say  that  we  have  since  seen  better  animals,  so  far  as  flesh  and 
condition  was  concerned,  of  the  Texan  cattle.  They  were  a 
small  herd  of  some  thirty  in  number,  which  had  been  brought  by 
the  cars  to  the  Buffalo  Cattle  Yards  for  sale.  They  had  been 
well  fed  on  corn  and  grass  for  several  months,  and  looked  sleek, 
and  in  good  flesh,  so  far  as  such  raw  boned  and  loosely  made  up 
cattle  could  be.  They  were  six  to  seven  years  old,  and  made  an 
average  weight  of  over  1200  pounds  each.  Good  four  year  old 
grade  short-horn  Western  steers,  were  selling  at  the  yards,  the 
day  we  saw  them,  at  7>£  to  8  cents  per  pound,  live  weight. 
The  Texans  were  sold  the  same  day  for  6  cents. 

Now,  adding  the  two  to  three  years  additional  forage  which 
the  latter  had  consumed,  the  interest  on  their  value  after  four 
years  old,  and  then  deduct  the  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  less  price 
they  sold  for,  together  with  the  contingencies  of  disease  or  loss 
by  death  meantime,  and  the  comparative  economy  an  breeding 
and  grazing  such  cattle  by  the  side  of  those  of  good  flesh  pro- 
ducing breeds,  or  their  crosses,  is  easily  solved. 

Great  numbers  of  these  cattle  are  driven  from  northern  Texas 
and  New  Mexico,  up  through  the  Indian  Territory  into  Kansas 
and  Missouri,  thence  into  Kentucky,  Illinois,  and  so  on  eastward. 
They  stop  little  to  graze  on  their  journeys,  as  they  gain  but  a 
small  increase  of  flesh  in  a  land  of  civilization,-  and  the  sooner 
they  arrive  at  the  shambles  the  better.  They  are  worth  little 
to  the  butcher  or  consumer,  and,  that  they  cost  but  little  to 
their  breeders,  would,  as  a  commercial  article,  be  comparatively 
worthless. 

8* 


178  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Their  colors  are  red,  dun,  yellow,  black,  brindle,  and  blue 
roan,  all  mixed  more  or  less  with  patches  and  strips  of  white. 

As  an  economical  animal  to  a  farmer  of  the  Northern,  Middle, 
or  Western  States,  they  can  be  of  little  value,  as  the  cows  give 
no  more  milk  than  will  raise  a  calf  till  it  is  old  enough  to  graze. 
The  bullocks  are  too  light  for  heavy  work,  although  sufficiently 
active;  and  for  beef,  where  a  choice  article  is  in  demand,  their 
value  must  be  low.  Some  of  the  improved  breeds  may  be 
crossed  upon  them  to  advantage,  no  doubt,  but  it  would  take 
several  generations  to  breed  their  coarseness  and  wild  nature  out. 
It  is  a  question  whether  it  would  not  be  cheaper  to  introduce  our 
better  natives,  even  into  their  own  country,  with  which  to  com- 
mence a  profitable  herd.  The  common  run  of  Texan  cattle 
must  be  doomed  to  extinction,  ultimately,  before  the  better  breeds. 

"We  only  mention  them  here,  because  in  their  own  ranges,  and 
over  an  extensive  territory,  they  are  the  prevailing  cattle,  and 
many  of  them  there  must  be  of  better  quality  than  we  have 
described.  A  few  short-horns,  from  Kentucky,  have,  years  ago, 
been  taken  to  Texas,  with  an  effort  to  improve  the  native  Mexi- 
can stock,  but  we  hear  of  no  results  worth  noting;  nor  can 
there  be  much  improvement,  so  long  as  they  retain  their  wild 
and  vagrant  habits.  These  cattle,  in  addition  to  Texas  and  New 
Mexico,  are  extensively  kept  by  the  natives  in  the  Mexican  ter- 
ritory of  Lower  California,  the  adjoining  Provinces,  and  to  a 
considerable  extent  in  our  own  State  of  California  itself. 

There  should  be  a  sanitary  law,  if  nothing  else,  to  regulate 
the  introduction  of  these  cattle  into  the  States  north  of  Texas  or 
New  Mexico,  as  they  have  either  brought  with  them,  or  origi- 
nated within  themselves  on  the  way,  deadly  diseases,  which  have 
spread  from  them  while  in  our  "Western  States,  into  which  they 
were  driven  for  market,  and  large  numbers  of  valuable  cattle 
have  died  from  their  contagion.  We  give  an  extract  from  one 
of  our  agricultural  periodicals,  touching  the  disease  we  have 
alluded  to: 


THE    TEXANS.  179 

"THE  TEXAN  CATTLE  PLAGUE. — The  troublesome  and  dan- 
gerous disease  introduced  occasionally  among  the  cattle  of  Mis- 
souri and  Kentucky,  by  those  driven  from  Texas,  to  which  we 
have  heretofore  referred,  is  now  called  by  this  name  in  our 
"Western  exchanges.  The  Farmers'  Advertiser,  (a  periodical 
just  established  at  St.  Louis,  under  the  editorship  of  Dr.  L.  D. 
Morse,)  says  that  the  Missouri  Legislature,  now  convened,  will 
be  called  upon  to  enact  some  efficient  measures  to  prevent  the 
introduction  and  spread  of  this  infection: 

" '  We  have  seen  a  letter  addressed  to  a  friend,  from  a  gentle- 
man in  South-west  Missouri,  which  details  his  experience  with 
the  cattle  plague  from  its  first  introduction  to  the  present 
autumn — the  substance  of  which  is,  that  there  was  no  such  dis- 
ease known  prior  to  the  introduction  of  Texas  cattle ;  that  up  to 
1860,  he  was  a  heavy  loser  annually  by  it.  That  from  1861  to 
1865,  the  rebellion  broke  up  the  cattle  trade  from  Texas.  During 
those  years  he  lost  not  a  single  head,  though  a  large  dealer  in 
cattle  all  the  time.  That  in  the  present  year,  soon  after  the  first 
appearance  of  Texas  herds,  the  disease  broke  out  again,  and  he 
had  lost  upwards  of  150  head  during  the  season — as  many  as  20 
dying  in  a  day.  He  recommends  that  the  present  law  be  so 
amended,  as  to  entirely  prohibit  the  introduction  of  these  cattle, 
from  the  first  of  April  to  the  first  of  October;  and  that  from  the 
first  of  October  to  the  first  of  April,  there  be  no  restriction. 

"'There  are  not  sufficient  data  to  determine  how  early  in 
autumn  they  can  be  permitted  to  come  in  with  safety ;  hut  as 
the  disease  this  year  broke  out  in  the  vicinity  of  St.  Louis  (at 
Cheltenham,)  late  in  October,  it  appears  that  the  first  of  October 
is  too  early  by  a  month  at  least.  The  first  victim  was  a  fine 
cow,  bought  out  of  a  Texas  drove;  in  the  course  of  ten  days, 
seven  other  cows  running  in  the  same  pasture  took  it  and  died. 
On  the  30th  of  October,  we  had  the  first  white  and  killing  frost; 
since  then  there  has  been  not  a  single  case.  It  would  then  seem 


180  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

that  the  disease  is  checked  and  controlled  by  frosts ;  the  inference 
therefore  is,  that  there  is  no  safety  in  suffering  them  to  come  in 
until  cold,  frosty  weather  sets  in,  which  hardly  ever  comes  earlier 
than  the  first  of  November.' " 

As  to  their  value  for  any  economical  purpose,  beyond  their 
hides,  what  little  tallow  they  have,  their  horns  and  bones  for 
manufacturing  or  fertilizing  purposes,  we  consider  them  of  little 
consequence  within  the  bounds  of  modern  civilization,  or  intelli- 
gent agriculture. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

WHAT    IS    THE    BEST    BBEED    OF    CATTLE? 

THIS  is  a  question  daily  asked  by  inquiring  men,  not  well 
acquainted  with  the  subject,  and  not  very  easily  answered,  except 
under  conditions. 

After  showing  at  so  much  length  as  we  have  done,  that  Amer- 
ica has  no  original  "  breed "  of  cattle,  as  its  own,  and  describing 
with  sufficient  minuteness  the  breeds  of  foreign  cattle  best  suited 
to  our  purposes,  it  is  vain  to  name  any  particular  breeds  as  best 
for  all  our  own  localities,  and  all  our  own  uses.  That  the  adop- 
tion of  some  one  of  these  foreign  breeds,  in  their  purity,  or  the 
crossing  of  bulls  of  some  one  of  them  on  to  our  native  cows,  is 
advisable,  we  cannot  doubt.  It  is  for  the  interest  of  every 
farmer  and  cattle  breeder  throughout  the  country,  who  takes  any 
particular  care  of  his  stock,  to  do  so.  For  all  such  as  take  no 
care  of  their  cattle,  but  let  them  mainly  take  care  of  themselves 
— the  poorer  the  breed,  so  that  they  can  forage  or  steal  a  living 
out  of  others,  the  better — the  Texans  can  perhaps  suit  them. 
But,  as  this  book  will  never  get  into  the  hands  of  such  people, 
nothing  more  need  be  said  on  that  score. 

No  understanding  person  will  contend  that  any  one  breed  of 
cattle  which  we  have  described,  is  the  best  for  all  our  soils  and 
climates,  and  our  running  remarks  in  describing  them  indicate,  to 
some  extent,  to  what  soils  and  climates  they  are  best  adapted. 
Before  concluding  his  choice,  the  farmer,  breeder,  and  grazier, 
must  each  well  understand  his  own  locality,  and  after  efficient 


182  AMKRICAN    CATTLE. 

observation  and  experience,  either  of  himself  or  of  intelligent 
men  around  him,  must  determine  which  breed  or  its  crosses  is,  on 
the  whole,  best  adapted  to  his  uses.  There  are  localities,  and 
extensive  ones,  where  either  of  the  foreign  breeds  will  thrive 
admirably — a  rich  soil,  abundant  herbage,  good  water,  and  mild 
climate  favoring  them.  There  are  other  soils,  climates,  and 
positions,  where  a  range  of  choice  is  necessary.  One,  two,  three, 
or  possibly  more  of  the  breeds  named  may  succeed  equally  well, 
and  others  not  at  all.  For  instance,  the  rich,  level,  or  gently 
rolling  lands,  with  abundant  grasses,  invite  the  Short-horn,  Long- 
horn,  or  Hereford.  The  stony,  more  hilly,  and  less  luxuriant 
pastures,  are  better  fitted  for  the  Ayrshire,  Alderney,  Devon,  or 
Galloway;  while  the  proprietor  of  wild,  mountain  ranges,  with 
thinner  and  shorter  herbage,  requiring  more  laborious  seeking 
after,  or  the  scantier  plains  of  the  far  West,  would — if  he  could 
get  them — better  adopt  the  West  Highland.  As  for  the  Texan 
cattle,  we  do  not  name  them  as  an  economical  beast  at  all.  We 
have  only  described  them  to  be  shunned. 

After  consulting  the  climate,  soil,  and  position  of  his  locality, 
the  proprietor  is  next  to  determine  the  uses  for  which  he  wants 
his  cattle,  whether  for  beef,  or  the  dairy.  As  tolerable  working 
oxen  can  be  selected  out  of  the  crosses  of  almost  all  the  breeds 
named,  and  there  being  no  particular  object  in  breeding  working 
steers  alone,  we  do  not  include  them  in  our  list — they  will  come 
naturally  of  themselves.  The  dairyman  wanting  the  greatest 
possible  quantity  of  milk,  and  of  good  quality,  will  select  the 
Short-horn,  Ayrshire,  Dutch,  or  Devon,  and  possibly,  a  dash  of 
the  Alderney,  as  his  soil  may  be  best  adapted  to  one  or  the 
other.  The  one  who  breeds  for  the  grazier,  or  beef  only  will 
take  the  Short-horn,  Hereford,  Devon,  Galloway,  or  West  High- 
land, as  either  may  best  suit  his  purpose.  Not  to  confound  these 
selections,  we  explain,  that  the  Short-horns,  and  Devons,  are  both 
milking  and  feeding  cattle,  as  they  may  be  bred  for  either  pur- 


WHAT    IS    THE    BEST    BREED.  183 

pose;  therefore,  for  such  uses,  we  have  named  them.  The 
Ayrshires,  Dutch,  and  Alderneys,  are  exclusively  dairy  cows, 
although  they  may  fatten  well  when  done  for  the  dairy,  but  we 
do  not  class  them  as  beef  animals  alone.  The  Herefords,  Gallo- 
ways, and  West  Highlands,  we  class  as  exclusively  beef  animals, 
although  not  denying  that  they  may,  by  generations  of  breeding 
for  that  object,  become  good  dairy  cows;  but  having  already 
enough  good  ones  for  that  purpose  in  all  localities,  it  is  of  little 
use  to  multiply  them.  We  do  not  here  speak  o£  the  Long-horns, 
as  they  are  not  in  our  country,  but  in  England  they  are  esteemed 
to  be  both  a  dairy  and  beef  animal,  and  no  doubt  are.  We  hope 
yet  to  see  them  introduced  to  America — as  curiosities,  or  for 
trial,  if  for  nothing  else. 

Now,  the  breeder  for  the  dairy,  or  for  beef,  whichever  it  may 
be,  should  determine,  after  a  full  and  thorough  survey  of  his 
premises,  which  of  the  breeds  he  will  adopt;  and  we  would 
advise  him  to  adopt  but  one,  unless  his  possessions  are  large,  and 
well  adapted  for  more;  or,  for  experiment,  or  his  own  gratifi- 
cation, he  prefers  a  variety.  A  question  may  here  occur,  whether 
the  breeder  proposes  to  rear  thorough  bred  cattle  with  which  to 
supply  other  breeders,  or  to  supply  dairymen  or  graziers.  This 
question  is  somewhat  to  govern  the  selections  he  may  make, 
with  which  to  stock  his  lands.  If  he  intends  to  breed  thorough 
breds  only,  his  expenditure  of  capital  must  be  large  in  propor- 
tion to  the  number  he  keeps,  as  they  are  costly.  If  he  breeds 
for  the  dairy,  or  for  beef,  he  has  only  to  determine  the  breed 
which  he  intends  ultimately  to  arrive  at;  then  he  is  to  get  the 
bost  cows  he  can  find  for  his  purpose,  and  those  which  either 
do,  or  will,  in  their  produce,  most  assimilate  to  the  breed  he 
intends  to  rear.  This  accomplished,  he  will  obtain  well  selected 
bulls  of  that  breed,  commence  his  herd,  and  breed  continuously 
on,  crossing  the  young  heifers  with  thorough  bred  bulls  in  suc- 
ceeding generations,  until  the  blood  gets  as  near  the  thorough 


184  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

bred  as  possible.  He  will  find,  if  he  breeds  carefully,  that  his 
stock  is  continually  growing  better  as  it  reaches  toward  the  full 
blood,  until  for  all  economical  uses  it  is  just  as  good — except  for 
thorough  breeding.  But  no  man  should  ever  buy  or  use  a  cross 
bred,  or  grade  bull  for  breeding,  when  he  can  get  a  pure  bred 
one,  for  the  reason  that  the  grade  is  quite  as  apt  to  throw  his 
bad  blood  into  his  progeny,  as  his  good  blood,  and  thus  stop  the 
improvement.  Some  breeders  are  quite  apt  to  think  when  they 
have  got  a  really  good  tiring,  although  of  mixed  blood,  and  a 
part  of  it  bad,  it  is  good  enough.  They  therefore  stop  at  that, 
use  the  imperfect  bull,  and  from  that  time  their  stock  remains 
stationary,  or  more  probably  goes  back.  Improvement  and  pro- 
gressive excellence,  is  only  to  be  obtained  by  a  constant  persistence 
in  the  use  of  the  best  pure  blood,  either  in  grade  animals,  or 
thorough  breds. 

Thus,  every  man  may  have  "  the  best  breed  of  cattle  "  for  his 
own  land,  and  for  his  own  uses.  He  may  complain  that  a  con- 
tinuous use  of  thorough  bred  bulls,  after  having  stretched  his 
purse  to  make  the  purchase  of  his  first  one,  costs  too  much. 
But  that  is  a  very  narrow  and  uneconomical  view  to  take  of  the 
matter.  If  he  studies  and  observes  sufficiently  to  surmount 
the  prevailing  popular  prejudice,  about  in-and-in  breeding,  he 
may  keep  his  first  bull  from  two,  or  three,  to  ten  years,  if  a 
good  one,  and  he  can  be  useful  so  long — breeding  him  to  his 
own  heifers  and  grand-heifers;  or  he  may  exchange  him  with 
one  in  like  circumstances,  and  by  such  means,  only  have  to 
buy  a  fresh  bull  once  in  several  years.  If  this  idea  of  breeding 
a  bull  to  his  own  progeny  proves  a  staggering  proposition,  the 
breeder  is  referred  to  our  chapter  "on  breeding,"  wherein  his 
views  may  be  enlightened,  and  possibly,  his  prejudices  some- 
what abated. 

In  suggesting  our  views  in  this  matter,  we  may  be  thought 
speculative,  or  theorizing,  by  the  ordinary  observer.  Let  us  see. 


WHAT    IS    THE    BEST    BREED.  185 

We  do  not  yet,  in  America,  afford  sufficient  examples  of  the 
kind  to  establish,  beyond  dispute,  these  facts.  We  can  point  to 
districts  of  country  in  Kentucky  and  Ohio,  and  perhaps  else- 
where, but  in  those  States  certainly,  where,  for  thirty  or  forty 
years  past,  the  course  of  breeding  which  we  have  pointed  out, 
has  been  pursued  with  the  short-horns,  (and  it  might  have  been 
so  with  any  other  established  breed,  had  it  been  selected,)  with 
the  most  triumphant  success.  The  "  blood  "  cattle  breeders  there, 
have  not  only  bred  their  pure  bloods  distinctly  by  themselves, 
and  sold  thousands  of  bulls  to  breeders  of  grades,  near  and  far, 
in  their  own  and  other  States,  but  have  bred  their  grades,  by 
the  persistent  use  of  thorough  bred  bulls,  up  to  a  quality — cows 
for  milk,  and  bullocks  for  beef — equal  in  value  for  all  practical 
uses,  to  the  pure  blood  itsulf ;  and  we  see  their  droves  of  bullocks 
year  after  year  going  to  market,  at  double,  or  treble  the  prices 
of  common  ones,  and  their  cows,  selected  as  milkers,  at  equal 
prices.  We  name  the  short-horns  in  those  localities,  as  they  are 
the  only  breed  they  have  used,  and  those  are  the  only  consider- 
able localities,  within  our  knowledge,  where  this  system  of 
breeding  has  been  for  any  length  of  time  pursued. 

So  it  is  in  England,  Scotland,  Wales,  Ireland,  and  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe,  where  the  best  agriculture"  prevails.  The 
farmers  and  breeders  find  out  what  they  want;  they  get  it,  and 
having  proved  its  merits,  they  hold  on  to  it  with  a  pertinacity, 
which,  to  many  of  us  would  seem  an  infatuation;  and  even 
when  they  can  find  a  better,  sometimes  refuse  to  give  up  the  old 
breed  at  all,  or  do  so  with  a  doubting  reluctance;  and  there  is  a 
reason  for  it.  They  live  on  the  same  farms  or  in  the  same  neigh- 
borhood all  their  lives.  They  have  either  found  their  stock  to 
be  what  was  needed  when  they  first  commenced  their  occupation, 
or  they  obtained  it  in  the  vicinity  of  their  homes,  and  knowing 
it  to  be  profitable,  were  content  to  use  it  as  it  was,  or  improve 
it,  without  rushing  off  upon  some  strange  fancy,  as  we  Ameri- 


186  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

cans  are  too  apt  to  do,  to  try  a  better;  and  so  they  have  succeeded 
in  establishing  the  best  breed  for  their  own  particular  uses. 

"We  Americans  have  not,  as  a  rule,  done  so.  "We  are  enter- 
prising, restless,  shifting,  more  or  less,  in  our  occupations,  and 
forever  changing  our  homes  on  a  chance  of  bettering  our  condi- 
tion. Hence  there  is  little  steadiness  in  our  pursuits,  even  when 
we  are  farmers  all  our  lives.  We  breed  sheep  and  raise  wool 
a  while;  wool  gets  low,  and  we  abandon  our  sheep,  to  go  into 
cattle,  either  for  beef  or  the  dairy ;  they  fall  in  price,  and  we 
abandon  them,  and  go  into  mixed  farming;  by  and  by,  these 
mixed  commodities  become  troublesome,  and  we  think  our  loca- 
tion a  bad  one,  and  sell  out  and  try  a  new  spot,  and  so  on 
through  a  purposeless,  ever  shifting  occupation.  This  remark 
has  little  to  do  with  cattle  breeding,  we  admit,  but  it  gives  a 
cause,  or  reason,  why  we  are  not  better  and  more  systematic 
cattle  breeders. 

Yet  there  is  a  better  prospect  ahead.  The  internal  communi- 
cations of  our  country  by  railway,  have  become  so  multiplied 
and  extended  that  we  can  select  our  positions,  and  choose  the 
staples  to  which  we  can  best  turn  our  attention,  and  to  which 
our  soils  are  best  adapted.  We  can  ascertain  to  what  product 
our  capita]  can  be  most  profitably  directed,  and  so  apply  it.  A 
division  of  labor  becomes  thus  established.  Wide  districts,  in 
several  States,  grow  wool  more  profitably  than  they  can  grow 
anything  else;  other  districts  can  more  profitably  grow  cattle; 
others  the  dairy ;  and  so  on,  all  diversified,  and  each  profitable  in 
itself.  Such  being  the  fact,  it  becomes  a  comparatively  easy 
matter  for  the  cattle  breeder,  with  a  proper  location,  to  prosecute 
his  business  with  a  single  eye  to  both  improvement  and  success. 
If  he  have  industry  and  sagacity,  he  can  soon  acquire  the  means, 
and  happily,  opportunity  is  not  wanting  to  gather  the  material 
to  put  him,  at  no  distant  time,  in  possession  of  the  "best  breed 
of  cattle  "  for  his  purposes. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

WHAT    CONSTITUTES    A    GOOD    ANIMAL? 

IT  should  be  the  object  of  every  breeder  to  rear  as  good  cattle 
as  he  can;  that  is,  as  perfect  in  their  various  points  as  their 
natures  will  permit,  for  the  uses  required  of  them ;  and  this  per- 
fection of  points  gives  the  most  profit  in  flesh,  labor,  and  milk, 
according  to  the  development  of  the  various  parts  of  the  animal 
in  its  anatomy,  and  their  general  making  up. 

There  are  certain  parts  of  the  animal,  economically,  of  little 
value,  but  indispensable  to  its  life  and  welfare,  as  the  head,  ears, 
horns  and  bones.  If  these  are  too  large,  or  ill-shaped,  they 
detract  from  the  value  of  the  carcass  by  giving  more  offal  than 
is  necessary,  and  render  the  animal  less  profitable  in  feeding,  as 
it  costs  a  greater  proportionate  expenditure  of  food  to  make  this 
offal,  than  it  does  to  make  either  flesh  or  milk.  Cattle  having 
an  undue  share  of  bone,  we  call  coarse,  and  all  coarseness  is  bad, 
as  such  animals  are  gross  feeders  in  proportion  to  their  actual 
weight.  A  big-headed,  narrow-chested,  flat-ribbed,  hollow- 
backed,  narrow-hipped,  and  droop-tailed  ox,  is  a  poor  worker, 
and  such  a  cow,  if  she  be  not  a  poor  milker,  is  seldom  a  profit- 
able one,  for  both  ox  and  cow  are  huge  feeders.  The  ox  has  no 
room  in  his  narrow  chest  for  full  lungs  to  play.  Therefore  he  is 
short  winded.  His  flat  ribs  and  narrow  hips  allow  him  but  a 
small  development  of  muscular  power.  His  strength  is  therefore 


188  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

contracted.  His  anatomy  being  sacrificed  in  breadth  and  depth, 
he  has  no  place  to  lay  on  flesh  as  a  beef  animal,  and  he  is  worth- 
less, comparatively,  for  any  purpose.  So  with  the  cow;  if  she 
take  flesh  poorly,  she  gives  a  less  quantity  of  milk ;  but  if  she  do 
happen  to  milk  well,  it  is  because  her  food  is  chiefly  thrown  into 
the  secretions  of  her  milk  veins,  which  happen,  in  such  instances, 
to  be  extraordinarily  developed.  We  have  seen  such,  but  they 
were  the  exceptions,  not  the  rule,  and  all  such  cattle  are  to  be 
avoided.  There  is  no  profit  in  them,  any  way;  as  a  calf,  the 
butcher  does  not  want  him,  except  at  a  reduced  price;  as  a 
steer,  the  grazier  jews  down  his  price;  as  a  working  ox,  nobody 
wants  him,  except  he  can  get  him  "cheap;"  as  a  fat  bullock — if 
he  ever  can  be  fatted — the  butcher  ''blows"  on  him;  and  as  for 
the  consumer — he  is  to  be  pitied.  Soups,  and  dried  beef — and 
poor  at  that — is  all  that  he  is  fit  for.  He  is  a  drag  on  every 
one's  hands  unfortunate  enough  to  own  him,  from  birth  to 
slaughter.  And  so  with  the  cow;  poor  in  every  quality,  she 
goes  through  a  miserable  life,  an  object  of  contempt,  and  ill- 
usage  throughout,  simply  because  her  breeder  did  not  veal  her 
at  six  weeks  old,  for  she  has  never  been  good  for  anything  in 
the  hands  of  anybody  since,  and  has  taken  the  place  of  a  better 
creature,  which  might  have  been  profitable  in  every  condition  of 
her  life,  and  a  pleasure  to  every  owner. 

Now,  reverse  the  picture.  Here  is  a  creature  with  a  small 
head,  a  fine  muzzle,  and  a  light  bone.  He  has  a  clean,  sinewy 
neck,  and  deep,  wide  chest;  springing  ribs,  giving  ample  room 
for  vigorous  lungs  to  play ;  a  straight  back  from  the  shoulders  to 
the  tail;  broad  hips,  and  a  deep  flank — symmetrical  through- 
out. He  is  so  anatomically  framed  as  to  admit  the  largest 
supplies  of  flesh  in  the  best  points;  he  has  much  less  offal,  even 
to  the  same  amount  of  consumable  flesh  than  the  other,  and  no 
more  offal  to  all  the  additional  flesh  which  can  be  piled  on  to  his 


WHAT    CONSTITUTES    A    GOOD    ANIMAL.  189 

carcass.  As  a  worker,  he  is  better  than  the  other.  His  large 
lungs  give  him  more  wind,  and  better  endurance;  his  broad, 
well-spread  anatomy  gives  more  sinewy  power — of  course  he  is 
a  better  worker  as  a  laboring  beast.  He  is  remarkable  through 
every  stage  of  his  life,  from  calf  hood  to  maturity ;  to  the  feeder, 
to  him  who  wants  a  working  ox,  to  the  butcher,  and  finally,  to 
the  consumer.  He  is  good  all  through  his  life,  and  always  in 
demand,  at  the  top  price,  for  one  purpose  or  another.  So  with 
the  female.  If  the  breed  be  not  of  the  dairy  quality,  spayed  at 
a  proper  age,  she  thrives  apace,  fattens  readily,  and  is  fully  ripe 
at  three  or  four  years,  according  to  her  breed,  and  is  a  profitable 
beast  altogether.  If  a  dairy  cow,  her  full  development  of  frame 
gives  room  for  her  milk  secretions  in  their  proper  places.  Her 
food,  not  only  keeps  her  in  good  flesh,  but  assimilates  into  milk 
abundantly;  and  finally,  done  with  milking,  she  readily  takes  on 
flesh  for  the  shambles,  and  dies  profitably. 

We  need  give  no  further  illustration  of  the  contrast  between 
poor  and  good  cattle,  than  to  refer  the  reader  to  the  group  of 
Texan  cattle  on  a  previous  page,  as  a  sample  of  the  one;  and  to 
either  cut  of  the  improved  breeds  we  have  described,  as  a  sample 
of  the  other.  One  exhibits  the  poor  qualities  of  his  race,  the 
other  exhibits  the  good  qualities,  and  no  one  need  be  mistaken 
in  his  choice  between  them. 

It  may  be  asked,  is  beauty  of  form  a  highly  desirable  quality 
in  a  neat  animal?  Most  certainly.  But  the  eye  and  the  judg- 
ment must  be  educated  to  know  in  what  that  beauty  consists. 
A  greyhound  is  a  beautiful  creature,  as  a  dog;  such  a  figure 
would  not  be  beautiful  in  a  bull,  an  ox,  or  a  cow.  Beauty  is 
relative  in  economical  animals,  and  in  the  eye  of  judges  should 
always  comport  with  utility.  Yet  there  are  outlines  of  beauty 
which  no  one,  not  a  simpleton,  can  mistake ;  and  beauty  is  always 
preferable  to  ugliness,  even  when  an  ugly  form,  as  it  sometimes 


190  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

does,  embraces  some  desirable  qualities.  Beauty  in  a  Short-horn 
would  not  be  altogether  beauty  in  a  Devon,  or  Hereford ;  neither 
would  the  latter  be  altogether  beautiful  in  a  short-horn  figure. 
So  with  the  rotund,  long-haired  Galloway,  the  wild,  rough 
looking  Highlander,  or  the  meek,  domestic,  housekeeping  Ayr- 
shire; while  the  unique,  diminutive  Alderney — a  gem  in  her 
blood-like  and  picturesque  little  ugliness — would  lose  every 
attractive  characteristic  feature,  if  clothed  in  the  perfect  con- 
tour of  a  Devon. 

We  say,  then,  perfection  of  form — according  to  its  breed — is 
a  great  excellence  in  neat  cattle.  They  should  be  good  all  over. 
One  most  desirable  point,  unnaturally  developed,  is  apt  to  be  so 
at  the  expense  of  another  part  equally  desirable,  which  is 
deficient,  for  nature  usually  has  its  compensations,  and  is  apt  to 
square  her  account  of  superabundancies  and  deficiencies  as  she 
goes  along,  even  in  animals  which  are  otherwise  almost  faultless. 
Thus,  if  a  certain  outline  of  anatomy,  when  fully  fleshed,  gives 
the  proportionate  quantities  of  valuable  flesh  in  their  proper 
places,  such  outlines,  according  to  the  breed,  is  always  to  be 
sought  for  that  object.  If  another  outline  better  develops  the 
milking  properties  of  the  cow,  such  a  figure  is  to  be  sought,  as 
near  as  may  be,  because  of  its  likelihood  to  furnish  the  require- 
ments wanted.  To  sum  up  the  whole  matter,  perfection  of  form, 
according  to  its  kind,  should  be  the  aim  of  every  breeder  who 
aspires  to  success  and  profit  in  his  pursuit. 

Some  nice  and  discriminating  breeders  and  writers  on  cattle, 
have  given  "scales  of  points,"  amounting  to  a  hundred  in  all,  to 
constitute  a  perfect  animal;  they  give  to  every  feature  so  many 
in  number,  as  the  importance  of  that  feature  may  have  to  all  the 
others,  as  two  to  the  muzzle,  one  to  the  horn,  four  to  the  neck, 
ten  to  the  brisket,  twelve  to  the  loin,  and  so  on  through  the 
entire  animal.  We  look  upon  all  these  nice  discriminations  as 
fanciful,  rather  than  real,  and  have  never  known  anybody  gov- 


WHAT    CONSTITUTES    A    GOOD    ANIMAL.  191 

erned  by  them,  even  when  on  committees  to  judge  of  the  relative 
merits  of  animals  on  exhibition,  and  charged  to  do  so.  We  doubt 
even  their  ability  to  do  it  with  anything  like  accuracy;  and 
as  these  "scales  of  points"  are  made  to  differ  in  divers  breeds, 
as  they  should  do,  they  only  serve  to  confuse,  instead  of  sim- 
plify and  make  clear  the  general  judgment  of  the  whole. 
The  eye,  the  touch,  the  weight,  and  measurement,  must,  after 
all,  tell  the  story. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

ON     BREEDING. GENERAL     PRINCIPLES,    IN-AND-IN    BREEDING, 

EXAMPLES. 

PHYSIOLOGICALLY,  this  subject  is  first  brought  to  our  notice 
by  the  sacred  historian,  Moses,  who  has  narrated  the  manner  in 
which  the  patriarch  Jacob,  near  four  thousand  years  ago,  retali- 
ated the  injustice  of  his  father-in-law,  by  the  use  of  peeled  rods 
to  influence  the  colors  of  his  cattle;  and  also  by  taking  the 
progeny  of  those  of  sound  health  as  his  own,  and  leaving  the 
weaker  ones  with  Laban.  Jacob  was  a  shrewd  physiologist, 
and  probably  spent  much  of  the  time,  during  his  years  of  servi- 
tude in  tending  the  flocks  and  herds  at  Padan-aran,  in  studied 
observation  of  their  natures  and  habits.  Jacob's  practice  gives 
us  a  hint,  only,  but  that  hint  is  the  key  to  a  wide  field  of  inves- 
tigation of  the  true  science  of  cattle  breeding,  and  capable  of 
almost  indefinite  ramification  into  every  department  of  animal 
structure  and  physiology. 

Greek  and  Roman  writers  also,  tell  us  of  the  improvement  of 
flocks  and  herds  in  their  own  times,  by  the  careful  attention  of 
herdsmen  and  shepherds.  Their  particular  modes  of  improve- 
ment are  not  all  related,  but  the  fact  is  recorded,  and  history, 
from  ancient  days  down  to  the  present,  establishes  the  fact, 
that  wherever  agriculture  had  attained  an  advanced  condition 
with  the  people,  their  domestic  animals  shared  in  its  improve- 
ment. What  the  varieties,  or  breeds,  of  the  ancient  cattle  were, 
is  not  recorded  in  their  chronicles,  but  at  a  later  dav  we  have 


ON   BREEDING.  193 

tnem  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  govern  our  own  cnoice,  and 
profit  by  their  example. 

We  approach  this  subject  with  diffidence,  and  do  not  expect 
to  say  anything  particularly  new  or  peculiar.  There  have  been 
volumes — in  books,  pamphlets,  and  essays — written,  and  indefi- 
nite numbers  of  discussions  and  controversies  on  the  subject  of 
breeding,  at  "talks"  and  conventions.  A  good  deal  of  sense, 
and  somewhat  of  nonsense,  has  been  both  written  and  uttered, 
and  all  that  we  can  do  is  to  strive  to  condense,  to  a  practical 
extent,  the  wisdom  of  the  one,  and  avoid  the  other. 

The  stock  breeder,  starting  with  any  one  or  more  varieties  in 
breeds  of  cattle,  does  so,  in  all  probability,  with  the  intention  of 
keeping  his  stock  in  as  good  quality  and  condition  of  blood  as 
he  obtained  it,  at  least,  if  he  have  no  intention  or  ability  to 
make  it  better.  But  he  should,  if  possible,  make  his  stock 
better  than  he  found  it.  To  effect  that  result,  a  few  fundamen- 
tal rules  to  govern  the  selection  of  his  cattle,  with  which  to 
commence  his  herd,  are  necessary.  Some  of  them  are  here 
enumerated.  Among  their  qualifications  they  should  possess : 

1st.  Sound  health,  and  freedom  from  constitutional,  heredi- 
tary, chronic,  or  local  disease,  blemish,  or  infirmity  of  any  kind. 
And  such  sound  health,  and  freedom  from  any  kind  of  fixed 
disease,  should  appertain  to  every  young  animal  which  is  to  be 
retained  for  breeding  purposes  thereafter. 

2d.  As  much  perfection  of  form  as  may  be  possible  to 
obtain  in  the  breed,  bearing  in  mind  the  chief  uses  for  which  the 
animals  are  intended. 

3d.  That  they  possess  the  strong  and  marked  characteristics 
of  their  breed,  in  the  various  points  belonging  to  it. 

4th.  That  if  of  a  distinct  breed,  the  blood  be  thoroughly 
pure,  and  that  purity  be  substantiated  by  well-authenticated 
pedigrees,  through  as  many  generations  back  as  can  be  ascer- 
tained. 


194  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

5th.  Good  temper,  and  a  kindly,  docile  disposition  in  the 
animals  so  selected  or  reared  for  breeding,  or  other  purposes. 

To  carry  out  these  rules,  an  enumeration  of  certain  points 
which  all  cattle,  of  any  breed,  should  possess,  is  necessary. 
Among  them  are : 

1st.     A  fine  head,  small  and  lean. 

2d.  A  broad,  full  and  deep  cliest,  giving  room  for  well- 
developed  and  vigorous  lungs  to  play. 

3d.  Good  length,  breadth  and  roundness  of  body,  roomy 
and  full  from  shoulder  to  hip,  with  low  flanks,  thus  giving  room 
for  abundant  action  of  the  viscera,  or  bowels,  and  expansion  for 
the  foetus,  if  in  a  female. 

4th.     Straight  back,  broad  hips,  and  good  length  of  loin. 

5th.  Fineness  of  bone,  and  smoothness  in  the  carcass  gen- 
erally. 

All  these  are  indispensable,  whether  in  an  animal  bred  for 
propagating  its  kind,  for  flesh  solely,  an  ox  for  labor,  or  a  cow 
for  milk.  The  intermediate  parts,  or  points  of  the  animals,  may 
be  filled  out  to  promote  the  objects  desired  for  the  particular  uses 
to  which  the  creature  is  to  be  applied;  but  all  which  we 
have  enumerated,  are  indispensable  in  making  up  a  good  animal. 
Any  one  adopting  a  particular  breed,  may  refer  to  the  de- 
scriptions and  portraits  already  given,  to  ascertain  the  chief 
points  necessary  to  possess  in  his  beast,  and  they  need  not 
here  be  repeated. 

To  the  rules,  and  their  sub-divisions,  here  laid  down,  relating 
to  the  general  figure  of  the  animal,  are  to  be  added  certain 
requisites  to  be  supplied  by  the  breeder,  and  of  these  may  be 
named  as  indispensable : 

1st.  Abundance  of  proper  food  in  the  various  seasons,  as 
grass,  or  its  equivalent,  in  spring,  summer  and  autumn;  nutri 
tious,  well-cured  and  prepared  food  in  winter;  and  plenty  of  good 
water  always. 


ON    BREEDING.  195 

•2d.  Regularity  in  feeding;  no  overstuffing;  no  scantiness  of 
allowance;  but  enough,  always,  without  waste. 

3d.  Shelter,  always,  when  needed,  according  to  temperature 
of  climate  and  atmosphere;  avoiding  extreme  cold,  violent 
storms,  and  excessive  heats. 

4th.  Kindly  treatment;  thus  promoting  docility  in  the  ani- 
mal; contentment  of  disposition,  and  a  fearless  confidence  in 
its  keeper — all  promotive  of  quietude  and  thrift.  Dumb  beasts 
though  they  be,  they  appreciate  good  treatment  much  beyond 
what  is  usually  supposed,  and  all  these  are  indispensable  to  the 
successful  efforts  for  the  improvement,  or  even  retention  of 
their  good  qualities. 

These  rules  for  selection  and  treatment  being  duly  observed, 
some  further  explanations  are  necessary. 

Nature  has  certain  unerring  laws  which  must  be  observed; 
and  those  laws  cannot  be  violated  with  impunity.  "Like  begets 
like."  "We  have  seen  in  the  histories  of  the  various  breeds  we 
have  named,  that  each  one  has  its  own  peculiar  and  well  estab- 
lished features  and  characteristics,  which  are  perpetuated  in  their 
progeny,  although  not  always  in  the  same  relative  degrees  of 
perfection  or  imperfection,  in  which  they  exist  in  sire  or  dam. 

Perfection  of  outward  form  is  seldom  found  in  any  domestic 
animal.  If  it  were,  that  quality  would  be  less  valuable  than  it 
is  usually  considered,  and  not  so  eagerly  sought  by  every  breeder 
who  aims  at  a  high  standard  of  excellence  in  his  stock;  and 
even  when  obtained,  there  is  a  constant  tendency  to  inferiority 
in  the  stock  of  such  perfect  animals,  unless  the  most  diligent 
care  is  exercised  by  the  breeder  to  couple  him,  or  her,  as  the 
case  may  be,  with  other  animals  which  possess,  to  a  certain 
degree,  his  or  her  predominating  excellencies.  Much  of  this  ten- 
dency toward  inferiority,  or,  toward  improving  excellence,  will 
depend  on  the  depth  of  breeding  in  the  parents — that  is  to  say, 
the  long  established  purity  of  _blood — in  the  so  perfected  sire  and 


196  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

dam.  Uniform  perfection  or  excellence,  or  the  highest  quality 
in  appearance  cannot  always  be  expected  in  the  produce  of  even 
aa  almost  perfect  sire  and  dam.  Every  now  and  then,  in  the 
finest  herds  there  will  come  out  a  creature  of  inferior  appear- 
ance, decidedly  lacking  some  prominent  good  point  possessed  by 
both  parents,  or  one  of  them.  Yet,  even  this  inferior  production, 
having  the  good  blood  of  his  parents — constitution,  health,  and 
all  eise  being  right — may  prove  as  good  a  sire  or  dam  as  the 
very  best  of  their  superior  relatives.  We  have  known  frequent 
instances  of  the  kind,  and  may  be  excused  for  relating  one  with 
which  we  were  for  some  time  familiar.  Some  years  ago,  we 
knew  a  bull  calf,  which  was  selected  from  a  pure  bred  herd  in 
England,  long  established,  and  bred  with  a  special  care  to  retain 
their  purity  of  blood  and  general  good  qualities.  He  was  a 
good  calf,  possessing  many  of  the  strong  and  well  defined  points 
of  his  race ;  but  after  his  arrival  in  America,  although  healthy, 
vigorous  and  well  cared  for,  he  grew  up  an  ordinary,  and  every 
way — for  his  breed — an  inferior  looking  beast.  Yet  his  stock 
proved  remarkably  fine,  even  from  inferior  and  coarse  cows  of 
his  own  breed.  It  was  not  known  that  he  ever  got  a  calf  bat 
what  was  really  superior,  in  appearance,  and  showing  the  prom- 
inent excellencies  of  the  herd  from  which  he  sprung.  Yet 
nobody  liked  the  bull,  and  his  importer,  after  keeping  him  two 
or  three  years,  sold  him  at  a  low  price.  His  new  owner,  appre- 
ciating the  value  of  the  blood  of  the  bull,  removed  him  to  his 
own  herd,  which  was  rather  miscellaneously  composed  of  several 
very  good,  and  some  only  middling,  yet  all,  purely  bred  cows. 
He  bred  the  bull  to  those  cows  for  several  years.  The  improve- 
ment he  made  in  their  produce,  of  even  the  best  of  the  cows, 
was  wonderful — better,  indeed,  than  the  produce  of  bulls  of  the 
highest  appearance  and  reputation  in  some  other  herds — although 
no  one  of  common  observation  would  think  him,  judging  by 
appearance,  worth  much,  comparatively.  His  stock  sold  for  high 


ON    BREEDIXO.  197 

prices,  and  after  the,  lull  was  dead,  men  wondered  what  they 
were  about,  not  to  appreciate  the  value  of  his  blood  I  The  sole 
value  of  the  bull  was  in  his  blood  and  pedigree.  Of  himself,  he 
was  nothing;  in  his  blood  and  pedigree,  he  was  everything.  So, 
on  the  contrary,  we  have  seen  a  bull,  almost  perfect  to  the  eye, 
pure  in  blood,  and  of  good  pedigree;  but  his  pedigree  traced 
through  ancestors  whose  qualities  were  incongruous — both  coarse 
and  fine,  or  otherwise  defective.  His  stock  were  uncertain  in 
their  good  qualities,  and  many  of  them  decidedly  inferior.  The 
first  named  bull  could  trace  his  lineage  through  a  long  line  of 
ancestry,  possessing  uniformly  good  qualities;  the  latter  one 
could  not.  He  was  patch-work,  although  thorough  bred,  as  his 
pedigree  showed ;  but  there  was  no  fixed  standard  of  excellence 
through  his  long  line  of  ancestry,  and  through  him,  their  bad 
qualities  all  scattered  into  his  stock,  and  his  own  good  ones,  as 
seen  in  his  stock,  amounted  to  nothing  positively  certain.  Thus, 
pedigree  is  indispensable;  and  apparent  excellence  in  the  animal 
himself,  unsupported  by  pedigree  of  undoubted  excellence  in  a 
long  line,  is  of  minor  value. 

Still,  in  the  selection  of  breeding  animals,  good  form  and 
appearance,  and  good  pedigree  should  go  together.  As  a  rule, 
we  would  not  rely  on  pedigree  alone.  The  appearance  of  the 
animal  should  endorse  the  pedigree,  and  when  good  points  and 
good  pedigree  are  combined,  they  constitute  excellence  of  the 
highest  order.  A  sire  or  dam  may  be  faulty  in  some  minor  par- 
ticular of  feature,  yet  when  that  minor  feature  is  surmounted 
by  a  prominent  excellence  in  a  more  important  and  controlling 
one,  the  inferior  point  may  be  overlooked  in  securing  the  better 
one.  Even  apparent  coarseness  in  some  particulars,  belonging 
to  a  sire  or  dam,  may  be  excused,  when  connected  with  good 
constitution  and  stamina,  if  either  be  coupled  with  one  of  the 
opposite  sex,  having  a  tendency  to  over-fineness,  or  exceeding 
delicacy.  The  vigor  and  apparent  coarseness  of  the  one  will  be 


198  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

corrected  in  the  fineness  of  the  other;  or  the  opposite  may  occur, 
and  an  almost  or  quite  perfect  progeny  may  be  the  result  of  their 
union.  And  so  with  other  qualities.  Extremes  of  size,  in  both 
sire  and  dam,  may,  in  some  instances,  be  coupled  together,  except 
in  great  size  of  the  sire,  and  diminutive  smaliness  in  the  dam ;  and 
such  should  not  be  bred  together;  but  the  conditions  and  sexes 
may  be  reversed,  as  the  finer  bull  to  the  coarser  cow,  to  great 
advantage.  A  little  explanation  is  here  necessary.  As  a  rule, 
cows  of  a  small  breed  should  not  be  bred  to  bulls  of  a  much 
larger  breed,  as  a  Devon,  or  Alderney,  or  even  a  diminutive 
native  cow,  to  a  Short-horn  bull.  We  except  the  Short-horn 
bull,  or  whatever  other  breed  of  large  cattle  he  may  be,  for  this 
reason:  The  foetus,  or  embryo  calf,  will  partake  more  or  less  of 
the  character  of  the  sire.  If  the  formation  be  large,  after  the 
sire,  the  growth  of  the  fcetus  will  be  correspondingly  large, 
needing  an  undue  amount  of  nourishment,  and  taxing  heavily 
the  energies  of  the  cow  to  carry  it  forward  to  parturition;  and 
at  the  time  of  birth  it  may  be  so  large  that  the  cow  will  be 
unable,  of  herself,  to  deliver  it — and  sometimes,  even  with  the 
assistance  of  a  farrier — alive.  We  "have  known  small  cows  to 
die  under  the  process,  and  others  to  have  the  calf  dissected  in 
pieces  to  be  delivered,  when  with  a  calf  of  her  own  kind,  no 
danger  would  ensue.  The  contrast  of  size  was  too  violent  for 
safety  to  either  the  calf  or  its  dam. 

Another  ill  effect  from  this  coupling  of  the  large  bull  with  the 
small  cow  is,  that  for  the  want  of  sufficient  room  in  the  womb 
of  the  cow  while  growing,  the  fcetus  becomes  ill-shaped,  and  the 
proper  proportions  of  the  limbs  are  not  extended  as  they  should 
be.  The  consequence  is  a  badly  formed  offspring.  But  in 
putting  the  larger  cow  to  tho  smaller  bull,  the  case  is  reversed, 
and  a  finely  formed  calf  is  the  result.  This  latter  is  the  true 
way  to  breed  the  larger  and  smaller  classes  together.  Still,  if  it 
be  necessary  to  breed  the  larger  kind  of  bull  to  the  smaller  cows, 


ON    BREEDING.  199 

a  bull  cf  the  smallest  size  of  his  kind,  compact  and  snug  in 
proportion,  should  be  selected,  and  the  larger  thus  gradually 
engrafted  into  the  smaller  breed,  when,  in  a  generation  or  two, 
no  danger  can  follow  the  use  of  good  sized  bulls  on  the  heifers 
of  such  offsprings  from  the  smaller  dams. 

In  thorough  breeding,  the  bull  should  always  show  his  own 
masculine  character,  energy,  and  vigor — no  cow  look  about  him. 
The  cow  should  possess  the  softer  and  delicate  points  of  her  sex 
in  their  fullest  development,  and  no  masculine  features  should 
give  her  anything  of  a  steer-like  appearance.  Sexuality,  in  their 
highest  qualities,  should  be  stamped  in  every  feature,  on  both 
sides. 

It  sometimes  occurs  that  two  certain  animals — bull  and  cow, 
both  of  excellent  quality — do  not  breed  well  together.  The 
good  qualities  of  neither  of  them  descend  to  their  progeny,  the 
form  and  features  of  such  progeny  running  back  into  some 
unknown  inferior  characteristics  of  the  ancestry  of  one  or  both 
the  parents.  This  cannot  be  accounted  for,  only  in  the  occasional 
uncertainties  of  nature  in  transmitting  the  character  of  parents 
directly  to  their  offspring.  When  such  uncertainty  is  ascer- 
tained to  be  the  habit  of  the  cow  and  bull  so  breeding,  further 
intercourse  between  them  should  cease,  and  the  cow  coupled 
with  a  different  bull.  On  the  contrary,  when  a  certain  bull  and 
cow  do  breed  successfully  together,  producing  really  good  stock, 
they  should  continue  to  be  bred  together,  unless  a  bull  of 
altogether  superior  points  and  pedigree  can  be  found.  "We 
know  no  necessity  for  changing  the  bull  when  the  cow  breeds 
well  to  him,  unless  the  new  bull  be  a  great  deal  better  than  the 
one  she  has  previously  bred  to.  Changing,  merely  for  the  sake 
of  change,  is  of  no  benefit.  It  is  mischievously  introducing  a 
multiplicity  of  crosses  into  one's  herd,  and  thus  scattering  their 
blood  into  uncertainties,  and  wide  variety  of  offspring,  when 
fixed  excellencies  might  be  perpetuated  to  more  advantage. 


200  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

We  might  run  into  almost  numberless  refinements,  or  theories, 
touching  subordinate  particulars  of  sire  or  dam,  without  reaching 
any  well  denned  or  accurate  result ;  but  when  we  say  that  our 
preliminary  rules  must  be  steadfastly  adhered  to,  and  after  that, 
to  breed  from  the  best  sires,  in  their  outward  appearance,  to  be 
obtained,  and  good  pedigrees  attached  to  them,  the  main  point 
of  the  object  is  accomplished. 

There  is  one  question  touching  the  improvement,  as  well  as  of 
maintaining  stock  in  their  wonted  excellence,  in  which  much 
controversy  has  for  many  years  existed,  viz.:  the  advantages  or 
policy  of  breeding  from  affinities,  more  or  less  near  in  blood  and 
consanguinity,  called 

"IN-AND-IN  BREEDING." 

Perhaps  there  is  no  better  place  to  touch  upon  it  than  here. 
In  the  improvement  and  working  up  to  their  present  degree  of 
perfection,  the  several  races  of  domestic  animals  which  have 
attracted  the  attention  of  modern  stock  breeders,  we  find  that 
the  most  remarkable  and  successful  results,  so  far  as  concerned 
the  outward  form,  internal  structure,  and  productive  power  of 
the  animals,  have  been  derived  from  this  system.  History,  so 
far  as  we  know  it,  so  instructs  us.  In  order  to  perfectly  under- 
stand it,  we  briefly  state  the  premises. 

"We  throw  out  of  the  question  the  absurd  proposition  enter- 
tained by  some,  that  any  one  of  the  present  well  established 
breeds  of  cattle,  have  been  formed  by  crossing  those  of  divers 
strange  breeds  upon  each  other.  Such  has  not  been  the  case  in 
any  long  established  breeds  with  which  we  are  familiar.  In  the 
history  of  those  breeds,  we  have  seen  that  with  one  or  two 
exceptions,  they  have  existed  from  time  immemorial  in  their 
own  distinct  characters  and  varieties,  and  that  they  have  been 
improved  from  the  blood  of  themselves  alone.  That  question 
noeds  no  further  discussion.  The  only  question  now  is,  as  to  the 


ON    BREEDING.  201 

fact  of  that  improvement  being  made,  and  to  what  extent,  by  a 
course  of  breeding  from  close  relationship  in  blood  with  each 
other.  The  practice — as  it  certainly  has  been  the  practice — 
probably  originated  from  the  selection  of  animals  possessing 
certain  superior  and  desirable  qualities,  and  after  breeding  them 
together,  their  produce  being  found  to  possess  the  combined 
good  qualities  of  both  parents,  in  an  improved  degree,  the 
breeders,  with  a  view  of  fixing  and  concentrating  those  good 
points  still  more  strongly  in  the  blood  and  constitution  of  their 
animals,  bred  the  sire  to  his  daughter,  the  sons  and  daughters 
with  each  other,  sons  to  mothers,  and  any,  and  all  sorts  of  rela- 
tionship which,  among  humanity,  would  be  considered  the  most 
incestuous.  Yet  this  practice,  among  their  dumb  animals,  proved 
eminently  successful.  They  thus  obtained  stock  of  certain  and 
positive  qualities  of  excellence,  which,  among  each  other,  or 
when  bred  upon  stock  of  other  families  or  tribes,  would  stamp 
their  own  character  upon  them,  with  a  certainty  and  strength 
that  could  be  reached  by  no  kind  of  miscellaneous  breeding 
whatever. 

This  mode  of  breeding,  to  obtain  certain  results,  has  been 
practiced  with  all  domestic  animals — among  quadrupeds,  from 
the  horse  down  to  the  rabbit — and  with  the  feathered  tribes, 
through  all  their  varieties,  from  the  swan  to  the  canary  bird. 
Such  is  the  fact;  and  in  support  of  it,  numerous  instances  might 
be  named,  in  breeding  other  animals  than  cattle,  which  are  not 
now  necessary  to  notice,  as  we  state  the  principle  on  which  the 
practice  has  been  adopted,  and  the  successful  results  which  have 
followed  it.  The  subject  will  bear  some  discussion. 

A  prejudice,  to  a  considerable  extent,  exists  in  the  popular 
mind  against  blood  relation  in  breeding  animals  of  any  variety, 
and  they  indulge  it  in  regard  to  the  lower  orders  of  Crea- 
tion as  they  do  to  mankind.  So  far  as  the  prejudice  relates 
to  humanity,  it  is  mainly  derived  from  Divine  authority,  as  a 
9* 


202  AMERICAN   CATTLE. 

general  principle,  and  also  from  various  statistical  tables,  giving 
the  results  of  intermarriages  between  blood  relations,  in  the 
decline  of  stamina,  physical  power,  and  mental  vigor  of  the 
parents,  in  their  descendants.  Some  of  these  statistical  tables 
may  be  true ;  others  may  be  highly  colored  with  the  bias  of 
opinion  or  prejudice  entertained  by  those  who  made  them. 
These  statements  might  be  more  or  less  controverted,  by  close 
inquiry  into  the  various  circumstances  in  which  the  parents  were 
placed,  and  the  modes  of  life  and  education  to  which  such  fami- 
lies, both  in  parent  and  offspring,  were  subjected. 

We  do  not  propose  to  combat  the  prejudices  above  named, 
nor  are  we  disposed  to  yield  to  all  the  sweeping  conclusions  to 
which  the  objections  are  carried,  either  in  theory  or  apparent 
fact.  There  are  certain  physical  parallels  running  through  both 
the  human  family  and  the  brute  creation,  to  which  the  same 
rules  may,  either  directly,  or  remotely  apply;  but  not  all  rules; 
and  we  may  name  some  of  these  parallels,  with  the  differences 
which  apply  to  them.  Let  us  see  with  how  much  justice. 

Man  is  far  more  nicely  constituted  in  his  bodily  functions  than 
the  lower  orders  of  animals.  He  attains  much  greater  longevity 
than  the  most  of  them.  He  is  liable  to  infinitely  more  'diseases, 
and  those  diseases  are  more  complicated  in  kind,  origin,  treat- 
ment and  result.  The  chances  of  life,  from  infancy  to  a  state  of 
puberty,  are  far  less  in  human  than  in  the  brute  creation,  from 
numberless  circumstances  unnecessary  here  to  mention.  He  is 
endowed  with  thought,  sentiment,  understanding,  sympathies, 
imagination,  as  well  as  instinct  and  passion.  These  qualities  are 
all  which  need  to  be  enumerated  for  our  present  purpose. 

The  lower  orders  of  animals  are  less  subject  to  casualties  of 
life  or  limb;  less  liable  to  disease;  less  exposed  to  danger  in 
bringing  forth  their  young;  less  helpless  in  infancy,  and  sooner 
able  to  provide  for  their  own  natural  wants.  They  have  little 
thought;  no  great  degree  of  sense;  little  reasoning  faculty; 


ON    BREEDING.  203 

some  memory;  dull  imagination;  not  a  particle  of  sentiment; 
slight  sympathy;  no  lasting  affection  for  their  offspring  after 
they  can  provide  for  themselves;  and  no  power  of  mind  to  rise 
above  the  order  of  their  natures.  Their  permanent  affections, 
if  they  can  be  said  to  have  affections  at  all,  are  towards  man 
alone.  They  have  instinct  and  passion  much  stronger  than  man ; 
and  that  instinct  and  passion  are  uncontrollable — even  by  dis- 
cipline, unless  under  superior  force — and  they  indulge  them  on 
every  available  occasion,  regardless  of  consequences.  Thus  man 
and  the  brute  have  little  in  common  beyond  their  animal  pro- 
pensities. 

We  have  spoken  of  mankind  in  a  state  of  civilization.  But 
even  man  can  become  brutalized ;  and  the  lower  in  the  scale  of 
humanity  he  descends,  the  more  like  the  brute,  in  the  indulgence 
of  his  instincts  and  passion,  he  becomes,  until,  perhaps,  the  brute 
is  the  better  of  the  two. 

Medical  men  tell  us,  and  observing  people  know,  that  concep- 
tion and  gestation  in  mankind,  are  more  or  less  influenced  by  the 
sensations  or  action  of  the  mind,  as  sympathy,  or  imagination, 
fright  or  terror  in  the  female  during  their  continuance,  as  seen 
by  strange  marks  on  their  bodiesr  or  strange  freaks  of  character 
in  their  offspring  in  numerous  instances.  It  is  seldom  seen  in  the 
brute  creation,  and  then  only  by  sudden  and  startling  emotion, 
or  long  familiarity  with  particular  associations.  Man,  unless  he 
becomes  thoroughly  brutalized,  revolts  at  known  incest.  The 
brute,  in  either  sex,  gratifies  its  lust  with  the  first  object  of  its 
kind  it  meets,  no  matter  what  the  blood  relation,  and  in  this 
indulgence,  only  acts  out  its  nature.  In  domestication,  they  are 
but  machines  in  our  hands,  with  which  to  work  out  certain  desired 
results,  and  their  relations  in  blood  have  nothing  to  do  with  pro- 
priety or  impropriety,  in  the  coupling  them  together  in  any 
conceivable  blood  relationship. 


204  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"Wild  animals  of  every  race  and  variety,  herd  together,  come 
in  heat,  copulate  without  regard  to  blood  relation,  the  stronger 
males  taking  precedence  in  such  service,  and  the  young  usually, 
unless  accident  occur,  being  healthy,  robust,  and  keeping  up  the 
qualities  of  their  sires  and  dams.  Put  a  pair  of  wild  deer  in  a 
park,  and  let  them  breed  together  for  years,  and  their  young  also, 
promiscuously  together;  no  deterioration  is  found  in  them — pro- 
vided their  natural  habits  and  food  are  not  interfered  with. 
There  are  herds  of  wild  cattle  in  some  parks  in  the  north  of 
England,  which  have  been  bred  together  for  centuries,  without 
molestation  or  interference,  save  when  they  are  occasionally 
slaughtered,  and  they  remain  the  same  in  vigor,  form,  and  appear- 
ance. Instinct  and  desire  are  the  passions  which  govern  them 
in  procreation,  regardless  of  blood  relation,  and  with  no  evil  con- 
sequences. A  pair  of  pigeons,  geese,  swans,  ducks,  rabbits,  or 
other  small  domesticated  animals,  are  put  together  in  the  same 
way,  and  they  and  their  offspring  breed  at  will,  promiscuously, 
for  years  together,  with  no  bad  results,  and  we  think  nothing  of 
it.  So  with  cattle,  horses,  sheep,  pigs  and  goats — every  brute 
animal,  in  fact,  which  breeds  at  all.  They  have  no  family  affec- 
tions or  sympathies,  no  permanent  likes  or  dislikes,  after  the 
mother  has  weaned  her  young,  and  it  has  become  able  to  provide 
for  itself.  The  female,  when  in  heat,  freely  receives  the  male, 
comely  or  uncomely,  no  matter  what,  if  of  her  own  kind ;  and 
the  male,  with  the  same  ungovernable  propensity,  seeks  his  grati- 
fication with  her.  Blood  relation  among  themselves  amounts  to 
nothing,  even  if  they  had  the  capacity  to  think  of  it,  which  they 
have  not.  The  indulgence  of  their  lust  is  the  sole  object  of  their 
desire,  and  that  is  effected  regardless  of  consequences. 

We  say,  then,  that  the  question  of  brute  incest  amounts  to 
nothing.  Breeding  in-and-in,  so  far  as  the  animal  is  affected,  is 
no  more  than  breeding  "out-and-out"  into  strange  blood  at  every 
cross,  under  like  conditions  and  circumstances. 


ON   BREEDING.  205 

Let  us  understand:  Conceding  that  our  point  is  well  taken, 
there  is  one  grand  fundamental  condition  upon  which  all  progres- 
sive breeding  is  founded,  viz.:  Sound  health  and  constitution  in 
the  parents  whose  produce  is  sought  to  be  improved.  If  closely 
related  animals  have  constitutional  disease  of  any  kind,  their 
offspring  will  inherit  it,  and  interbreeding  will  intensify  the 
disease  in  every  descending  production  of  the  family.  Even  the 
out-and-out  breeding  of  unhealthy  animals,  with  healthy  sires  or 
dams,  will  not  altogether  eradicate  the  disease  inherited,  or 
chronic,  as  it  may  be.  Unsound,  or  diseased  animals,  or  those 
having  a  tendency  to  disease  or  unsoundness,  when  bred  together, 
no  matter  how  distant  their  blood  relation,  their  produce  will  be 
unsound;  and  if  the  disease  be  apparently  checked  or  oblit- 
erated in  the  young  stock,  it  may  lie  dormant  for  a  time,  and 
then  break  out  in  their  descendants  in  all  its  original  virulence, 
as  seen  in  their  ancestors  of  some  generations  back.  Diseased 
animals  should  never  be  used  in  either  progressive  or  any  other 
breeding.  Also,  if  barrenness  (although  barrenness  is  not  prop- 
erly a  disease,)  be  a  constitutional  tendency  in  the  first  dam,  or 
lack  of  virility  be  a  constitutional  tendency  in  the  first  sire, 
those  tendencies  may  become  perpetuated  to  such  degree,  by  close 
interbreeding  from  parents  to  offspring,  or  between  such  offspring, 
as  to  finally  result  in  almost  total  barrenness  on  both  sides,  in 
the  entire  family.  If  such  tendency  increase  in  the  produce, 
new  blood  of  an  opposite  tendency  must,  of  course,  be  intro- 
duced. But,  if  the  blood  of  these  barrenly  inclined  animals, 
otherwise  than  in  that  particular  fault  in  either  sire  or  dam,  be 
of  great  value,  they  should  be  coupled  with  other  fruitful  ones 
of  different  families,  possessed  in  as  high  degree  as  possible  of 
the  same  distinctive^  qualities,  sought  to  be  perpetuated  through 
the  original  parents,  so  that  the  same  distinct  characteristics  may 
be  retained  in  the  herd.  "Like  produces  like,"  is  the  inexorable 
law  of  nature,  only  departed  from,  under  strange  and  extraor- 


206  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

dinary  influence*,  and  the  axiom  should  never  be  neglected  by 
the  breeder.  To  follow  its  teachings,  generally,  is  the  road 
either  to  success  or  ruin.  Good  animals,  as  a  rule,  will  produce 
their  kind;  bad  ones  will  produce  theirs. „  Our  remarks  regard- 
ing barrenness  and  its  tendencies,  as  well  as  the  recovery  into 
full  fruitfulness,  might  be  illustrated,  had  we  the  space,  by  several 
well  authenticated  examples,  now  unnecessary,  and  perhaps 
invidious  to  mention. 

To  follow  up  the  "in-and-in"  theory:  Suppose,  after  breeding 
thus  closely  for  a  series  of  years,  some  failing  in  vigor  or  quality 
is  detected  in  the  young  stock;  should  further  interbreeding  be 
continued?  No.  What  then?  There  always  will  be,  if  your 
stock  be  of  blood  having  any  currency  at  all,  a  distantly  removed 
family  of  the  kind,  possessing  mainly,  or  fully,  the  identical 
blood  of  your  own  herd,  in  a  locality  not  far  distant,  to  which,  if 
their  good  qualities  be  still  retained,  a  resort  may  at  once  be 
made  to  reinvigorate  your  stock,  and  a  fresh  cross  be  obtained. 
We  may  be  here  met  with  the  objection,  that  if  the  same  blood 
be  resorted  to,  the  cross  will  not  be  a  fresh  one,  and  the  like  ill 
results  follow,  as  with  your  own  previous  in-and-in  breeding. 
Such  fact,  by  no  means,  need  follow. 

Suppose  that  an  importation  of  a  number  of  cattle  of  a  closely 
bred  family — bulls  and  cows — be  made  into  New  York,  Boston, 
or  Philadelphia.  A  part  of  them  are  taken  into  New  England, 
another  part  into  Pennsylvania,  or  Western  New  York,  and 
another  into  Kentucky,  Ohio,  or  a  farther  Western  State,  whoro 
the  soils  are  quite  unlike,  and  the  climates  somewhat  different 
from  each  other.  These  animals,  thus  widely  separated,  will 
soon  acquire  somewhat  different  characteristics  from  each  other 
family  of  the  same  original  stock,  although  all  may  be  kept  and 
bred  with  equal  care.  The  water  they  drink,  the  soil  on  which 
they  graze,  the  food  they  eat,  the  climate  they  inhabit,  will  work 
somewhat  of  a  change  in  their  constitutions  and  habits,  and  one 


ON    BREEDING.  207 

of  the  families,  although  bred  in  the  same  manner,  and  with  the 
same  care  in  keeping,  may  be  different  from,  or  superior  to  the 
others  in  some  peculiar  quality.  Thus,  these  families  become 
estranged  in  constitutional  blood,  and  somewhat  in  habit,  from 
each  other.  They  do,  in  their  wide  separation,  become  new 
herds,  so  far  as  their  close  original  blood  is  concerned.  After 
some  years'  continuance  in  their  varied  localities,  they  may,  there- 
fore, be  reunited,  in  the  application  of  bulls  to  the  cows  of  their 
distant  relations,  with  entire  safety  to  the  quality  of  their  future 
offspring.  We  have  seen  this  very  thing  already  done  with 
admirable  effect,  in  the  United  States,  and  with  an  improvement, 
if  possible,  on  the  good  qualities  of  the  originally  imported  stock. 
Under  such  circumstances,  a  resort  to  the  old  blood  can  be 
made,  and  kept  intact  in  the  herd  without  deterioration,  and 
thus  prevent  an  infusion  of  baser,  or  less  desirable  quality,  in  the 
herd  proposed  to  be  kept  perfect  in  its  lineage,  and  no  outside 
cross  need  be  admitted.  Bakewell  did  so  with  his  Long-horns, 
through  his  whole  course  of  cattle  breeding,  going  only  twice 
out  of  his  own  herd  for  a  fresh  bull,  and  then  into  the  same 
family  blood,  at  the  distance  of  a  few  counties  away,  and  no 
breeder  of  his  time  had  better,  if  as  good  cattle  of  the  kind  as 
he.  Price,  a  noted  breeder  of  Herefords  thirty  years  ago — no 
better  in  England — asserted  that  he  had  not  gone  out  of  his 
own  herd  for  a  bull  for  forty  years,  and  at  his  final  sale,  when  he 
gav«  up  breeding,  his  cattle  brought  the  highest  prices — for 
Herefords — that  had  been  known.  The  two  brothers  Colling 
bogan  breeding  short-horns,  from  the  best  cattle  they  could 
obtain  from  other  breeders,  about  the  year  1780.  They  soon 
got  the  bull  Hubback,  a  thorough  bred  of  their  own  breed,  and 
although  they  retained  him  only  three  years,  they  bred  pertina- 
ciously from  his  blood  until  the  year  1810 — thirty  years — 
excepting  only  in  Charles  Ceiling's  "alloy"  family  of  the  Gallo- 
way cross.  Charles,  in  that  year,  sold  out  his  stock  at  the 


208  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

highest  prices  ever  known.  His  brother  Robert  so  bred  his 
stock — no  "alloy"  about  them — until  1818 — thirty-eight  years — 
when  he  sold  out  at  prices  larger  than  any  other  short-horn  herd 
would  sell  for  at  the  time.  By  a  change  of  times,  (it  was  war 
times  when  Charles  sold,  and  the  country  was  at  peace  when 
Robert  sold,)  all  agricultural  prices  were  much  lower  in  1818. 
Their  stocks  stood  in  the  very  highest  repute,  and  no  men  had 
bred  so  intensely  in-and-in,  by  every  possible  intermixture,  as 
they,  adhering  to  their  old  blood  to  the  last.  Charles,  in  some 
instances,  bred  his  bull  "Favorite"  to  his  own  dam,  and  sister, 
and  granddaughters,  and  so  down,  for  four  or  five  generations. 

So  also,  bred  Mr.  Bates,  who  bought  his  first  "Duchess," 
deeply  bred  in-and-in,  of  Charles  Colling,  in  the  year  1804.  He 
bred  her  and  her  near  relations  together,  all  closely  allied  in 
blood,  and  never  went  out  of  his  own  herd  for  a  bull,  with 
any  success,  as  he  frequently  asserted,  until  the  year  1831, 
when  he  obtained  the  bull  "Belvedere,"  of  the  same  blood,  in 
another  herd.  He  also  introduced  into  his  herd,  the  "Matchem 
cow,"  an  animal  showing  excellent  points  of  character,  a  stranger 
to  his  own  stock,  but  which  he  contended  had  a  back  cross  of 
his  favorite  blood  in  her,  and  thus  possessing  good  quality,  with 
which  to  reinvigorate  the  energies  of  his  deeply  in-aud-in  bred 
stock.  He  crossed  his  best  bulls  on  that  cow,  and  then  interbred 
her  produce  with  others  of  his  old  blood,  and  adhered  to  that 
blood  thus  crossed,  and  still  further  interbred,  for  the  remainder 
of  his  life.  Mr.  Bates  died  in  1849,  and  for  more  than  fifty 
years  was  a  short-horn  breeder. 

So,  also,  bred  the  Booth  brothers,  John  and  Richard,  long 
time  breeders  of  great  celebrity,  and  their  stock  still  remains  in 
high  repute,  both  in  England  and  America.  They  bred  deeply 
in-and-in.  So  did  the  Wetherells,  Mr.  Mason,  Wright,  Trotter, 
Charge,  Earl  Spencer,  Sir  Charles  Knightley,  and  other  noted 
breeders  of  their  day,  although  we  know  less  of  their  particular 


ON    BREEDING.  209 

breeding,  only  as  we  trace  them  through  the  early  Herd  Books, 
than  of  the  Collings,  and  Bates.  All  these  herds  were  of  high 
reputation,  and  their  blood,  passing  since  through  the  hands  of 
other  breeders,  is  now  widely,  by  importation,  scattered  over  the 
United  States  and  the  Canadas. 

We  would  not  be  invidious  in  naming  these  particular  breeders 
and  their  stocks,  nor  the  short-horn  breed,  but  to  illustrate  a  fact. 
Every  improved  race  of  cattle  in  Britain  has  been  more  or 
less  so  in-and-in  bred — Devons,  Herefords,  Long-horns,  Ayr- 
shires,  Highlands,  Galloways,  Alderneys,  and  the  famous  "Dutch" 
cows  of  Holland.  It  was  indispensable  so  to  do,  to  concentrate 
their  good  qualities  until  a  standard  of  excellence  had  been 
attained,  from  which  the  breeders  could  strike  out  into  more 
divergent  blood. 

Thus,  the  fact  that  in-and-in  breeding,  of  itself,  having  a  ten- 
dency to  deteriorate  the  quality  of  the  produce  is  shown  to  be 
fallacious,  so  far  as  those  breeders  were  concerned :  the  manner  of 
doing  so  is  quite  another  thing.  Interbreeding  in  such  close 
relation,  is  a  nice — possibly  a  hazardous — thing,  and  can  only  be 
practiced  by  experienced  men  who  are  good  physiologists,  have 
a  just  appreciation  of  both  the  good  and  indifferent  qualities 
which  their  cattle  possess,  and  the  knowledge  how  to  couple 
them  together  to  produce  favorable  results. 

The  great  merits  and  object  claimed  for  in-and-in  breeding,  is 
the  concentration  of  good  blood  in  the  animal  so  bred,  enabling 
him  or  her  to  transmit  that  blood  strongly,  not  only  in  the  herd 
where  they  originated,  but  in  other  herds  to  which  they  may  be 
removed.  We  do  not,  in  fact,  believe  that  many  who  object  to 
the  so-called  "in-and-in"  practice  of  breeding,  really  appreciate 
their  own  course  of  practice,  while  they  are  constantly  pursuing 
that  which  they  condemn. 

Our  attention  has  been  recently  called  to  this  subject  by  Mr. 
T.  S.  Humrickhouse,  of  Coshocton,  Ohio, — a  breeder  of  cattle 


210  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

himself — who  has  evidently  paid  much  attention  to  the  subject. 
We  give  his  notes  as  sent  to  us: 

"IN-AND-IN  BREEDING. — SHORT-HORNS. — ESTABLISHING  OR 

FIXING    THE    VARIETY    AS    AN    IMPROVED    BREED. 

"In  my  essay,  published  in  the  Ohio  Agricultural  Report  for 
1854,  on  'The  General  Principles  of  Propagation,'  &c.,  page 
179,  I  use  this  language: 

" '  And,  if  there  are  advantages  arising  from  the  having  placed 
in  the  line  of  the  direct  ancestry,  near  and  remote,  of  our  herds, 
a  great  number  of  approved  individuals,  both  male  and  female, 
as  has  been  seen,  it  follows  that  there  must  be  far  greater  advan-* 
tages  arising  from  having  the  same  one  individual — if  he  be  of 
marked  superiority — placed  in  that  line  the  greatest  possible  num- 
ber of  times.  This  is  done  by  'in-and-in  breeding,"  and  is  the 
object  of  it.  Now,  it  is  easier  to  find  this  one  unsurpassed 
individual  than  to  find  many,  for,  in  the  many,  there  will  most 
certainly  be  one  to  be  preferred  to  all  the  rest.  Then,  under 
the  operation  of  the  principle  of  atavism,  (ancestral  excellence 
or  peculiarity,)  the  chances,  that  the  resemblance  of  such  une- 
qualled ancestor  will  be  obtained,  must  be  in  the  ratio  of  the 
number  of  times  that  he  occurs  in  the  ascending  lines.  Hence 
greater  uniformity  and  greater  excellence  in  all  the  progeny. 
An  apt  illustration  of  this  is  found,  in  the  frequent  occurrence  of 
the  Godolphin  Arabian,  in  the  pedigrees  of  all  our  blooded  horses, 
carried  back  to  him  as  their  founder.' 

"To  give  greater  force  to  the  thoughts  expressed  in  this  quota- 
tion, I  have,  ever  since  they  were  committed  to  paper,  entertained 
the  purpose,  at  some  time,  to  make  the  actual  count.  Instead, 
however,  of  using  the  thorough  bred  horse  as  the  illustration,  I 
now  find  it  much  easier,  owing  to  the  greater  completeness  of 
the  materials  at  hand  for  making  such  a  count,  to  carry  out  that 
design  by  using  the  improved  short-horns  as  an  illustration,  and 


ON    BREEDING.  211 

taking  Mr.  Charles  Ceiling's  famous  bull  Favorite  (252) — one 
of  the  most  celebrated  of  the  variety— as  the  individual,  the 
number  of  descents  from  whom,  in  the  pedigrees  of  some  of  our 
living  short-horns,  is  to  be  ascertained."  Accordingly,  I  have 
made  the  count,  in  the  cases  of  several  animals  selected  for  that 
purpose;  and,  for  the  better  understanding  of  the  subject,  their 
pedigrees,  as  contained  in  the  Herd  Book,  have  been  transcribed, 
and,  together  with  the  result  of  the  count  as  made  for  each,  given 
below." 

Mr.  H.  then  gives  the  names  and  pedigrees,  from  the  Ameri- 
can Herd  Book,  of  eight  thorough  bred  short-horns,  some  of 
them  bred  in  England,  and  imported  into  America,  with  their 
produce  since  arriving  here — the  names  of  which  we  have  not 
room,  nor  is  it  necessary,  to  insert — each  of  which  number  from 
672  to  8,104  descents — through  all  their  collateral  ancestry — 
into  their  own  blood  from  the  aforesaid  bull  Favorite  (.252). 

Thus,  although  our  short-horn  breeders,  by  the  substitution  of 
"new  crosses,"  as  they  suppose,  are  infusing  fresh  blood  into 
their  herds,  are,  in  reality,  persistently  breeding  back  into  essen- 
tially the  same  blood  with  which  they  started,  or  still  retain, 
varied  only  by  their  change  to  different  localities,  yet  deriving 
their  lineage  from  the  same  original  ancestry. 

It  is  so  with  all  improved  breeds,  or  races  of  cattle,  and  other 
animals.  A  very  few  breeders  and  improvers,  with  a  few  well 
chosen  animals,  started  the  system,  and  from  the  produce  which 
they  reared  from  them,  scattered  through  numerous  individual 
hands,  they  have  spread  and  multiplied,  as  did  the  children  of 
Israel  first  descended  from  Abraham,  into  their  own  chosen  races, 
each  of  their  kind,  but  all  chiefly  one  blood,  and  one  lineage. 

We  feel  much  indebted  to  the  acumen  and  industry  of  Mr. 
Humrickhouse  for  his  hint  and  illustration. 

We  have  discussed  his  subject  of  breeding,  at  some  length, 
mainly  historically,  rather  than  from  a  wish  to  commend  it,  as 


212  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

we  are  aware  that  much  misapprehension  has  been  entertained 
regarding  it,  and  consider  it  necessary,  in  the  present  advanced 
state  of  cattle  breeding  in  our  country,  that  it  should  be  fully 
understood. 

We  are  not  an  advocate  of  the  practice  now,  except  in  partic- 
ular cases,  and  under  peculiar  circumstances.  There  is,  indeed, 
no  necessity  for  it,  to  any  extent,  as  our  popular  breeds  of  cattle 
are  so  widely  distributed  as  to  permit  advantageous  selections  to 
be  made  from  various  herds  for  fresh  crosses,  without  running 
into  close  relations  of  blood.  Yet,  two  or  three  direct  crosses 
may  be  made  in  successive  generations,  with  a  choice  bull  on  his 
own  descendants,  even  now,  to  decided  advantage. 

To  sum  up  this  prolonged  discussion,  we  would,  as  a  rule,  only 
advise  the  breeder,  either  of  pure  bred  cattle,  or  grades,  to  com- 
mence his  herd  with  the  best  and  most  perfect  animals  he  can 
find,  or  which  he  can  afford,  both  cows  and  bulls;  and  so  often 
as  he  needs  a  new  bull,  to  again  get  the  best  one  he  can.  Then, 
with  due  care,  skill,  and  diligence,  he  may  succeed,  keeping 
always  in  mind  the  governing  principles  and  rules  laid  down  at 
the  beginning  of  this  discussion.  A  volume  of  writing  would 
not  much  further  enlighten  him,  as  he  is  presumed  to  have  some 
discretion  and  judgment  of  his  own  to  guide  his  conduct. 

We  close  this,  we  fear,  too  long  extended  branch  of  our  sub- 
ject, by  quoting  Sir  John  S.  Sebright,  a  distinguished  English 
authority,  who  early  in  the  present  century  acquired  much 
celebrity  as  a  stock  breeder  among  the  smaller  varieties  of 
domestic  animals.  It  was  written  in  the  year  1809,  and  entitled 
"The  Art  of  Improving  the  Breeds  of  Domestic  Animals:  In  a 
letter  addressed  to  Sir  Joseph  Banks,  by  Sir  John  Saunders 
Sebright." 

''The  best  breeds,  after  having  been  obtained  at  great  expense, 
too  frequently  degenerate  from  mismanagement.  Men  conceive 
that,  if  they  have  procured  good  males  and  good  females,  they 


ON    BREEDING.  213 

have  done  all  that  is  necessary  to  establish  and  to  continue  a 
good  breed ;  but  this  is  by  no  means  the  case, 

"Were  I  to  define  what  is  called  the  art  of  breeding,  I  should 
say  that  it  consisted  in  the  selection  of  males  and  females, 
intended  to  breed  together,  in  reference  to  each  other's  merits 
and  defects. 

"It  is  not  always  by  putting  the  best  male  to  the  best  female, 
that  the  best  produce  will  be  obtained;  for,  should  they  both 
have  a  tendency  to  the  same  defect,  although  in  ever  so  slight  a 
degree,  it  will,  in  general,  preponderate  so  much  in  the  produce 
as  to  render  it  of  little  value. 

"A  breed  of  animals  may  be  said  to  be  improved  when  any 
desired  quality  has  been*  increased  by  art,  beyond  what  that  qual- 
ity was  in  the  same  breed  in  a  state  of  nature;  the  swiftness  of 
the  race-horse,  the  propensity  to  fatten  in  cattle,  and  the  fine 
wool  in  sheep,  are  improvements  which  have  been  made  in  par- 
ticular varieties  of  the  species  to  which  these  animals  belong. 
What  has  been  produced  by  art  must  be  continued  by  the  same 
means,  for  the  most  improved  breeds  will  soon  return  to  a  state 
of  nature,  or  perhaps  defects  will  arise,  which  did  not  exist  when 
the  breed  was  in  its  natural  state,  unless  the  greatest  attention  is 
paid  to  the  selection  of  the  individuals  who  are  to  breed  together. 

"We  must  observe  the  smallest  tendency  to  imperfection  in 
our  stock,  the  moment  it  appears,  so  as  to  be  able  to  counteract 
it  before  it  becomes  a  defect ;  as  a  rope-dancer,  to  preserve  his 
equilibrium,  must  collect  the  balance  before  it  has  gone  too  far, 
and  then  not  by  such  a  motion  as  will  incline  it  too  much  to  the 
opposite  side. 

"The  breeder's  success  will  depend  entirely  upon  the  degree 
in  which  he  may  happen  to  possess  this  particular  talent. 

"  Regard  should  not  only  be  paid  to  the  qualities  apparent  in 
animals,  selected  for  breeding,  but  to  those  which  have  prevailed 
in  the  race  from  which  they  are  descended,  as  they  will  always 


214  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

show  themselves  sooner  or  later  in  the  progeny.  It  is  for  this 
reason  that  we  should  not  breed  from  an  animal,  however  excel- 
lent, unless  we  can  ascertain  it  to  be  what  is  called  well  bred; 
that  is,  descended  from  a  race  of  ancestors,  who  have,  through 
several  generations,  possessed,  in  a  high  degree,  the  properties 
which  it  is  our  object  to  obtain. 

"If  a  breed  cannot  be  improved,  or  even  continued  in  the 
degree  of  perfection  at  which  it  has  already  arrived,  but  by  breed- 
ing from  individuals  so  selected  as  to  correct  each  other's  defects, 
and  by  a  judicious  combination  of  their  different  properties,  (a 
position,  I  believe,  that  will  not  be  denied,)  it  follows  that  ani- 
mals must  degenerate,  by  being  long  bred  from  the  same  family, 
without  the  intermixture  of  any  other  blood,  or  from  being  what 
is  technically  called  bred  in-and-in. 

"Breeding  is  sometimes  done  with  father  and  daughter,  and 
mother  and  son.  This  is  not  what  I  consider  as  breeding  in-and- 
in;  for  the  daughter  is  only  half  of  the  same  blood  as  the  father, 
and  will  probably  partake,  in  a  small  degree,  of  the  properties  of 
the  mother. 

"Mr.  Meynel  sometimes  bred  from  brother  and  sister.  This 
is  certainly  what  may  be  called  a  little  close;  but  should  they 
both  be  very  good,  and,  particularly,  should  the  same  defects  not 
predominate  in  both,  but  the  perfections  of  the  one  promise  to 
correct  in  the  produce  the  imperfections  of  the  other,  I  do  not 
think  it  objectionable. . 

"  Mr.  Bakewell  had  certainly  the  merit  of  destroying  the  absurd 
prejudice  which  formerly  prevailed  against  breeding  from  animals 
between  whom  there  was  any  degree  of  relationship.  Had  this 
opinion  been  universally  acted  upon,  no  one  could  have  been  said 
to  be  possessed  of  a  particular  breed,  good  or  bad ;  for  the  pro- 
duce of  one  year  would  have  been  dissimilar  to  that  of  another, 
and  wo  should  have  availed  ourselves  but  little  of  an  animal  of 
superior  morit,  that  we  might  have  had  the  good  fortune  to 
possess. 


ON   BREEDING.  215 

I 

"The  effect  of  breeding  in-and-in  may  be  accelerated  or 
retarded  by  selection,  particularly  in  those  animals  who  produce 
many  young  ones  at  a  time.  There  may  be  families  so  nearly 
perfect  as  to  go  through  several  generations,  without  sustaining 
much  injury  from  having  been  bred  in-and-in. 

"  Breeding  in-and-in,  will,  of  course,  have  the  same  effect  in 
strengthening  the  good,  as  the  bad  properties,  and -may  be  bene- 
ficial, if  not  carried  too  far,  particularly  in  fixing  any  variety 
which  may  be  thought  valuable. 

"  If  the  original  male  and  female  Avere  of  different  families,  by 
breeding  from  the  mother  and  son,  and  again  from  the  male  pro- 
duce and  the  mother,  and  from  the  father  and  the  daughter  in 
the  same  way,  two  families  sufficiently  distinct  might  be  obtained ; 
for  the  son  is  only  half  of  the  father's  blood,  and  the  produce 
from  the  mother  and  the  son  will  be  six  parts  of  the  mother  and 
two  of  the  father. 

"Although  I  believe  the  occasional  intermixture  of  different 
families  .to  be  necessary,  I  do  not,  by  any  means,  approve  of  mix- 
ing two  distinct  breeds,  with  the  view  of  uniting  the  valuable 
properties  of  both.  This  experiment  has  been  frequently  tried 
by  others  as  well  as  myself,  but  has,  I  believe,  never  succeeded. 
The  first  cross  frequently  produces  a  tolerable  animal,  but  it  is 
a  breed  that  cannot  be  continued. 

"It  is  well  known  that  a  particular  formation  generally  indi- 
cates a  disposition  to  get  fat,  in  all  sorts  of  animals;  but  this  rule 
is  not  universal,  for  we  sometimes  see  animals  of  the  mosi 
approved  forms,  who  are  slow  feeders,  and  whose  flesh  is  of  a- bad 
quality,  which  the  graziers  easily  ascertain  by  the  touch.  The 
disposition  to  get  fat  is  more  generally  found  in  some  breeds  than 
in  others.  The  Scotch  Highland  cattle  are  remarkable  for  being 
almost  all  quick  feeders,  although  many  of  them  are  defective  in 
shape.  The  Welsh  cattle  have  but  little  disposition  to  get  fat ; 
not  from  being  particularly  ill-shaped,  but  because  they  are 
almost  invariably  what  the  graziers  call  bad  handlers. 


216  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"No  trouble  or  expense  will  be  spared  by  those  who  expect 
to  derive  profit,  not  from  the  quantity,  but  from  the  quality 
of  the  animals  which  they  breed.  The  competition,  which  must 
always  exist  between  breeders  of  this  description,  will  be  a  never- 
failing  stimulus  to  exertion. 

"The  common  farmer,  who  seldom  sees  any  stock  but  his  own 
and  that  of  his  neighbors,  generally  concludes,  that  his  own  have 
arrived  at  the  summit  of  perfection.  But  the  breeder  must 
frequently  submit  his  male  animals  to  the  inspection  of  the  pub- 
lic and  criticism  of  his  rivals,  who  will  certainly  not  encourage 
any  prejudices  he  may  entertain  of  their  superiority. 

"These  observations  are  the  result  of  many  years'  experience, 
in  breeding  animals  of  various  descriptions.  But  the  life  of  man 
is  not  long  enough  to  form  very  decisive  conclusions  upon  a  sub- 
ject which  is  so  little  understood,  and  which  is  darkened  by 
innumerable  prejudices.  Many  experiments  must  be  tried,  to 
establish  a  single  fact ;  for  nature  is  sometimes  so  capricious  in  her 
productions,  that  the  most  accurate  observer  will  be  frequently 
deceived,  if  he  draws  any  inference  from  a  single  experiment." 

To  conclude,  we  give  a  different  view  to  the  supposed  benefits 
o'f  in-and-in  breeding,  against  which  some  of  our  most  experi- 
enced stock  breeders  entertain,  as  they  conceive,  well  fortified 
opinions.  Mr.  Thomas  C.  Jones,  an  eminent  lawyer,  as  well  as 
a  veteran  short-horn  cattle  breeder,  of  Delaware,  Ohio,  from 
whom  we  requested  a  paper  on  the  subject,  says  the  following: 

"Your  idea  of  my  preparing  a  paper,  giving  facts  to  show  the 
advantages  of  'out-crossing,'  as  compared  with  in-and-in  breed- 
ing, I  find  to  be  impracticable,  for  several  reasons.  The  number 
of  instances  that  could  be  cited  in  such  a  paper,  or  indeed  in  an 
article  of  any  length,  is  so  small  in  comparison  with  the  number 
of  cattle  bred,  that  the  value  of  such  instances,  as  evidence,  in 
support  of  my  position,  would  amount  to  very  little.  All  dis- 
cussions based  upon  such  evidence  have  been  unsatisfactory. 


ON    BREEDING.  217 

"'Stonehenge,'  speaking  of  breeding  race  horses,  says,  'that 
by  referring  to  distinguished  animals,  it  will  be  found  that  the 
proportion  of  in-bred  and  crossed  horses  is  about  equal.'  But 
of  those  that  he  calls  in-bred,  I  have  found  none  that  were  the 
produce  of  nearer  connection  than  first  cousins.  The  instances 
you  cite  of  the  old  in-and-in  breeders,  do  not,  in  my  opinion, 
prove  their  success.  I  deny  that  they  have,  in  the  aggregate, 
bred  more  good  animals  than  others  who  have  not  so  bred. 
From  the  in-and-in  families  they  have  had  less  calves,  and  more 
bad  ones  than  other  breeders  of  less  intelligence,  who  did  not 
follow  in  their  track. 

"The  assumption  that  occasional  animals  produced  by  such 
close  in-and-in  breeding  as  some  have  practiced,  and  which  were 
really  highly  meritorious,  and  sold  for  enormous  prices,  (thereby 
establishing  distinct  families  of  cattle,)  is  a  false  one,  as  compared 
with  other  animals  not  so  incestuously  bred,  although  descended 
originally  from  the  very  same  animals.  This,  I  say,  is  against 
reason,  as  well  as  against  experience  of  the  great  mass  of  practi- 
cal breeders. 

"I  do  not  say  that  we  should  never  breed  in-and-in.  I  agree 
that  it  would  be  better  to  breed  to  a  good  animal  closely  related 
to  our  stock,  than  to  breed  to  a  poor  one  that  was  not  so  related ; 
and  I  agree  that  many  instances  can  be  cited  where  no  bad 
results  have  followed,  where  they  have  not  been  carried  too  far. 
But  T  deny  that  in  any  case,  such  close  breeding  has  been  more 
beneficial  than  the  breeding  together  of  animals  of  the  same 
blood  and  quality  that  were  not  akin.*  Occasionally,  by  such 
close  connection,  an  extraordinary  animal  is  produced,  but  such 

*  Judge  Jones  is  a  breeder  of  short-horn  cattle.  If  he  will  tax  his  memory,  or 
refer  back  to  the  early  good  short-horn  families  in  the  first  volume  of  the  English 
Herd  Book,  he  will  find  that  all  those  of  superior  excellence,  trace  their  pedigrees 
into  the  herds  of  but  a  limited  number  of  breeders,  from  which  have  descended,  by 
continuous  interchanging  crosses,  the  best  blood  and  animals  of  the  present  day.— 
L.  F.  A. 

10 


218  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

a  result  is  apt  to  be  followed  by  equally  inferior  ones.  Accord- 
ing to  my  observation,  whenever  this  system  has  been  long 
continued,  the  number  of  poor  animals  has  outnumbered  the  good 
ones.  A  system  that  produces  such  results  cannot  be  the  true 
one.  That  practice  is  the  best  which  produces  the  greatest  aver- 
age excellence,  and  the  united  experience  of  the  great  body  of 
practical  breeders  attests  this  as  best  accomplished  by  avoiding 
incestuous  breeding.  Such  testimony  is  worth  more  than  a 
reference  to  a  few  distinguished  animals,  produced  by  even  the 
most  eminent  breeders,  while  numerous  other  inferior  beasts  of 
the  same  families  and  blood  are  left  out  of  the  account." 

Thus  we  leave  the  subject.  "We  are  aware  that  Judge  Jones 
speaks  the  sentiments  of  many  veteran  cattle  breeders,  whose 
practice  has  been  eminently  successful  in  improving  their  thor- 
ough bred  cattle,  and  for  whose  opinions  we  have  a  high  respect. 
We  have  but  repeated  history,  and  facts,  founded  as  we  believe, 
on  sound  physiological  principles,  leaving  those  who  are  to  prac- 
tice in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  judgment  in  the  course  they 
choose  to  pursue  in  striving  either  to  improve,  or  to  maintain  in 
their  present  excellence,  the  stock  of  which  they  are  possessed. 
or  may  hereafter  control. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS. 

THIS  is  purely  a  practical  matter.  It  may  be  said  to  belong 
properly  to  the  subject  of  breeding;  but  we  purpose  to  give  it 
emphasis  in  a  chapter  by  itself,  and  not  mix  it  with  topics  in 
part  theoretical. 

The  whole  subject  is  important,  whether  applied  to  cattle 
which  range  in  miscellaneous  herds,  or  in  choice  collections  of 
either  grade,  or  pure  bred  animals  for  particular,  or  ordinary  pur- 
poses. The  cow,  as  has  already  been  observed,  is  a  creature  of 
instinct,  impulse,  and  passion.  Her  instinct  is,  to  breed  her 
kind;  her  impulse  is,  to  seek  the  male  when  that  instinct  becomes 
active ;  her  passion  is,  to  be  gratified  with  the  first  opportunity. 
She  has  no  fancy,  no  taste,  and  little  imagination.  She  as  read- 
ily receives  the  embraces  of  the  most  villainous  scrub  that  falls 
in  her  way,  as  the  bull  of  comeliest  proportions;  and  if  it  so 
happen  that  she  encounters  them  both  in  her  phrenzy,  the  infe- 
rior brute  is  almost  sure  to  impregnate  her,  even  under  the 
stealthiest,  and  apparently,  least  available  opportunity.  Under 
such  circumstances,  therefore,  it  is  necessary  that  cows  associate 
only  with  their  kind,  and  so  far  as  possible,  with  those  of  their 
own  breed ;  and  when  pure  bred  animals,  with  only  those  of 
decided  excellence. 

We  say  that  the  cow  has  little  imagination;  but  she  may 
have  some,  and  that  imagination  is  emotional,  acted  upon  sud- 
denly, and  for  only  a  brief  period  during  sexual  heat,  or  the 
early  stages  of  pregnancy.  Her  associations  at  such  a  season, 


220  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

should  familiarize  her  to  the  sight  of  the  best  of  her  kind.  If  an 
inferior  male,  a  steer,  or  ox,  for  instance,  be  running  in  the  same 
field,  or  an  adjoining  one,  where  she  can  see  him  (and  such 
steer,  or  ox,  will  always  strive  to  appease  her  passion,  if  they  can 
get  together,  to  which  attempt  she  readily  submits,)  he  may  so 
affect  her  imagination  thus  operated  upon,  as  to  impress  to  some 
extent  the  foetus  which  may  soon  be  conceived  under  the  action 
of  a  proper  bull.  Therefore  she  should  be  prevented  any  such 
familiarity  with  inferior  brutes.  This,  to  the  common  observer, 
may  appear  absurd;  but  we  will  give  an  instance:  Some  years 
ago,  in  the  winter  season,  we  had  a  thorough  bred  short-horn 
cow,  which  the  herdsman  had  just  let  out  of  the  stable  with 
other  cows  to  water.  She  was  immediately  discovered  to  be  in 
heat.  As  she  was  passing  through  the  yard,  a  villainous  black 
scrub  of  a  bull  from  a  neighboring  farm,  had  strayed  away,  and 
broke  into  our  premises,  and  at  that  moment  had  come  into  the 
yard.  He  encountered  the  cow,  and  before  the  herdsman  could 
reach  them,  a  hurried  coition  had  taken  place.  The  cow  was 
immediately  separated  from  him,  put  into  a  small  enclosure,  and 
a  thorough  bred  bull  of  her  own  breed  admitted  to  her,  with  the 
usual  and  repeated  effect.  But  it  proved  of  no  avail.  In  due 
time,  the  cow  produced  a  black-roan  bull  calf,  "steel  mixed." 
He  turned  out  a  good  one,  taking  more  the  form  of  the  cow  than 
of  his  sire,  and  we  made  a  steer  of  him.  The  winter  in  which  he 
became  a  yearling,  when  running  in  the  yard  with  some  other 
calves,  the  door  of  the  stable,  in  which  several  thorough  bred 
short-horn  cows  were  standing,  tied  in  their  stalls,  was  open. 
That  calf,  in  a  frolic,  ran  bounding  into  the  stable.  One  of  the 
cows  but  a  few  days  previous  having  received  the  bull,  (a 
thorough  bred  short-horn,)  started  in  alarm,  threw  her  head  on  one 
side,  saw  the  calf  running  by,  and  gave  a  loud,  sudden  bawl. 
It  was  only  an  emotion  of  fright,  and  in  a  moment  she  was  over 
it.  At  the  proper  time  she  calved,  and  that  calf,  a  pure  roan 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  221 

short-horn  heifer,  had  one  side  of  its  face  (the  same  side  which 
its  dam  in  her  fright,  had  thrown  around  to  look  at  the  bounding 
black  yearling,)  and  jaw,  back  on  to  her  neck,  colored  the  same 
as  the  calf  that  caused  the  fright  of  its  dam,  the  black  hair  run- 
ning in  a  straight  line  from  the  middle  of  her  skull  down  the  face 
to  the  center  of  her  nose,  half  of  which  was  also  black.  The  fact 
needed  no  further  explanation.  We  reared  the  calf.  She  proved 
a  fine  cow,  and  bred  us  several  excellent  calves,  with  no  mark 
of  anything  but  a  pure  short-horn  in  them.  "We  have  heard, 
and  seen  accounts,  of  similar  accidents  in  other  herds,  but  differ- 
ing in  circumstances,  and  character.  A  cow  may  become  so 
infatuated  with  the  presence  of  a  male  unable  to  copulate  with 
her,  that  when  admitted  to  a  proper  bull,  instead  of  resembling 
him,  the  foetus  takes  the  impression  from  the  one  to  which  the 
cow  had  become  familiar.  She  was  merely  passive,  under  the 
action  of  the  bull  which  begot  and  should  have  impressed  his 
own  likeness  on  her  calf.  Such  instances  are  not  common,  but 
they  are  possible,  and  of  sufficiently  frequent  occurrence  as  to 
warn  all  good  cattle  breeders  to  be  cautious  of  the  associations 
permitted  with  their  cows. 

When  the  cow  comes  in  heat,  she  should  be  allowed  to  see 
the  bull  fully  and  deliberately  when  introduced  to  him,  and  apart 
from  the  company  of  other  cows.  A  single,  or  at  most  a  once 
repeated  service  is  sufficient,  and  immediately  after  the  service 
she  should  be  confined  in  her  stall,  or  a  small  enclosure  by  her- 
self, until  her  heat  fully  passes  off.  If  she  be  let  out  immediately 
with  other  cattle,  they  only  tease,  and  worry  her,  to  no  good, 
but  frequently,  positive  injury.  If  the  calf  to  be  bred  is  of  no 
consequence,  only  to  be  made  into  veal,  or  destroyed  soon  after 
birth,  this  pains  with  the  cow  need  not  be  taken ;  but  when- 
cattle  of  any  considerable  value  are  to  be  reared,  the  little  extra 
labor  required  should  be  cheerfully  bestowed. 


222  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

In  breeding  thorough  bred  cows,  some  writers  contend  that  if 
the  heifer  be  first  bred  to  an  inferior  bull,  not  only  her  first  calf  will 
resemble  him,  but  her  succeeding  calves  will  resemble  him  also, 
whatever  may  be  the  qualities  of  their  own  sires.  This  supposi- 
tion is  based  on  the  principle  that  the  heifer's  first  impression  of 
the  bull  at  coition,  are  so  strong  as  not  to  be  effaced,  and  that 
her  imagination  at  the  time  continued  to  influence  her  future 
progeny.  It  is  possible  that  such  may  have  been  the  fact  in 
some  peculiar  cases;  but  they  have  been  very  uncommon.  "We 
have  known  many  instances  of  cows  with  their  first  calves  being 
bred  to  bad  bulls,  but  no  known  bad  result  has  followed  her  suc- 
ceeding progeny.  It  is  well,  however,  to  say  that  none  but  the 
best  bulls  should  always  be  used,  and  any  inferiority  of  blood  in 
them  strictly  avoided. 

In  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "On  a  Remarkable  Effect  of  Cross- 
Breeding:  by  Alex.  Harvey,  M.  D.,  Physician  and  Lecturer  in 
the  Royal  Infirmary,  at  Aberdeen,  Scotland;  printed  in  1851," 
a  work  of  considerable  research,  are  found,  aside  from  much 
philosophy,  and  some  speculation,  some  striking  facts.  We  have 
heard  some  of  the  facts  before ;  but  as  they  are  important  in  their 
bearing  in  the  case  of  cows  in  connection  with  breeding,  although 
of  considerable  length,  we  quote  them  for  the  study  of  those  who 
choose  to  look  deeper  into  the  subject  than  a  casual,  or  slight 
observation  will  admit. 

There  are  some  rather  fine-spun  theories  suggested,  which 
actual  investigation  will  not  corroborate,  but  we  give  the  matter 
as  written  by  its  author: 

"  There  is  a  circumstance  connected  with  the  process  of  breed- 
ing in  the  higher  classes  of  animals,  which  seems  to  me  to  merit 
a  larger  share,  than  it  has  yet  received,  of  the  attention  of  the 
Agricultural  body.  It  is  this:  that  a  male  animal,  that  has 
once  had  fruitful  connection  with  a  female,  may  so  influence  her 
future  offspring  begotten  by  other  males,  as,  to  a  greater  or  less 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  223 

extent,  to  engraft  upon  them  his  own  distinctive  features; — his 
influence  thus  reaching  to  the  subsequent  progeny  in  whose  con- 
ception he  himself  has  had  no  share, — and  his  image  and  super- 
scription being,  so  to  speak,  more  or  less  legibly  inscribed  upon 
them. 

"Accordingly,  if  the  female  be  of  a  different  breed  or  species 
from  that  male,  and  have  thus  borne  a  cross  or  a  hybrid  by  him, 
her  subsequent  offspring,  got  by  males  of  the  same  breed  or 
species  as  herself,  may  yet  have,  more  or  less,  the  characters  of 
a  cross  or  hybrid. 

"It  seems  not  improbable,  indeed,  that  on  every  occasion  of 
fruitful  intercourse  between  a  male  and  a  female,  some  effect 
of  this  kind  is  wrought  on  the  breeding  powers  of  the  female; 
but  it  would  appear  that  the  greater  effect  results  from  the  first 
sexual  connection.  Whether  the  effect  is  absolutely  permanent, 
and  might  show  itself  in  all  the  offspring  which  the  female  is 
capable  of  subsequently  producing,  is  at  present  uncertain ;  but  it 
would  seem,  in  some  instances  at  least,  to  disappear  after  a  time. 

"Of  this  singular  phenomenon,  examples  will  presently  be 
given.  That  it  is  not  less  practical  in  its  bearing  than  singular 
in  its  character,  must  be  evident  to  every  one.  If  it  be  a  gen- 
eral fact, — that  is  to  say,  a  fact  having  the  character  of  a  law  of 
nature — it  is  one  obviously  of  practical  application  in  the  breed- 
ing of  stock.  It  will  at  once  appear  how  important  it  must  be 
that  care  be  taken  in  the  selection  of  the  male,  and  particularly 
of  the  first  male,  in  the  coupling  of  animals  even  of  the  same 
breed;  and,  if  the  preservation  of  a  pure  breed  be  an  object  of 
regard,  that  crossing  be  in  every  instance  religiously  eschewed. 
Whether  it  be  a  fact  of  that  description,  cannot,  in  the  mean- 
time, with  any  confidence  be  alleged.  At  present,  the  fact  itself 
is  probably  known  to  comparatively  few,  and  what  is  known 
regarding  it,  is  deficient  both  in  scientific  accuracy  and  in  practi- 
cal value.  But  the  conjecture  may  be  hazarded,  that  were  the 


224  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

subject  brought  prominently  under  the  notice  of  breeders,  and 
were  the  communication  of  illustrative  cases  solicited  by  Agricul- 
tural Societies,  a  large  collection  of  examples,  presently  known 
only  to  individuals,  and,  therefore,  lost  to  science,  might  be 
obtained,  sufficient  to  exhibit  the  commonness  of  the  fact,  and 
thus  enhance  its  importance  in  public  estimation. 

"The  following  examples  of  the  phenomenon,  and  statements 
respecting  it,  comprise  what  is  presently  known  to  me  in  regard 
to  the  facts  of  the  subject. 

"1.  A  young  chestnut  Mare,  seven-eighths  Arabian,  belong- 
ing to  the  Earl  of  Morton,  was  covered  in  1815,  by  a  Quagga, 
which  is  a  sort  of  wild  ass,  from  Africa,  and  marked  somewhat 
after  the  manner  of  the  Zebra.  The  mare  was  served  but  once 
with  the  Quagga,  and,  in  due  time,  gave  birth  to  a  hybrid,  which 
had  distinct  marks  of  the  Quagga,  in  the  shape  of  its  head,  black 
bars  on  the  shoulders,  &c.  In  1817,  1818,  and  1821,  the  same 
mare  was  covered  by  a  very  fine  black  Arabian  Horse,  and  pro- 
duced, successively,  three  foals,  all  of  which  bore  unequivocal 
marks  of  the  Quagga.* 

"A  mare  belonging  to  Sir  Gore  Ouseley  was  covered  by  a 
Zebra,  and  gave  birth  to  a  hybrid.  The  year  following,  the  same 
mare  was  served  by  a  thorough  bred  horse,  and  the  next  suc- 
ceeding year  by  another  horse.  Both  the  foals  thus  produced 
were  striped,  that  is  to  say,  partook  of  the  characters  of  the 
Zebra, 

"  *  The  first  and  the  second  of  these  foals  are  thus  described :  '  They  have  the 
character  of  the  Arabian  breed  as  decidedly  as  can  be  expected,  where  fifteen-six- 
teenths of  the  blood  are  Arabian :  and  they  are  fine  specimens  of  that  breed  ;  but 
both  in  their  color,  and  in  the  hair  of  their  manes,  they  have  a  striking  resemblance 
to  the  Quagga.  Their  color  is  bay,  marked  more  or  less  like  the  Quagga  in  a  darker 
tint.  Both  are  distinguished  by  the  dark  line  along  the  ridge  of  the  back,  the  dark 
stripes  across  the  fore-hand,  and  the  dark  bars  across  the  back  part  of  the  legs. 
Both  their  manes  are  black ;  that  of  the  filly  is  short,  stiff,  and  stands  upright ;  that  • 
of  the  colt  is  long,  but  so  stiff  as  to  arch  upwards,  and  to  hang  clear  of  the  s,ides  of 
the  neck ;  in  which  circumstance  it  resembles  that  of  the  hybrid.  This  is  the  more 
remarkable,  as  the  manes  of  the  Arabian  breed  hang  lank,  and  closer  to  the  neck 
than  those  of  most  others.' " 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  225 

"It  was  long  ago  Stated  by  the  illustrious  Haller,  and  also  by- 
Becker,  that  when  a  mare  had  a  mule  by  an  Ass,  and  afterwards 
a  foal  by  a  horse,  the  foal  exhibits  traces  of  the  ass;  a  state- 
ment which  I  find  recently  confirmed  by  Professor  Low,  of 
Edinburgh,  in  a  letter  to  Sir  John  S.  Forbes,  of  Pitsligo. 

"lu  the  foregoing  cases,  the  mares  were  covered  in  the  first 
instance  by  males  of  a  different  species  from  their  own.  But 
there  are  cases  recorded  of  mares  covered  in  every  instance  by 
horses,  but  by  different  horses  on  different  occasions,  where  the 
subsequent  offspring  exhibited  the  characters  of  the  horse  by 
which  impregnation  was  first  effected.  Of  this,  Mr.  M'Gillavray 
gives  two  examples.  Thus,  in  several  foals,  in  the  royal  stud  at 
Hampton  Court,  got  by  the  horse  Actaeon,  there  were  unequivo- 
cal marks  of  the  horse  Colonel,  by  which  the  dams  of  these  foals 
were  covered  the  previous  year.  Again,  a  colt,  the  property  of 
the  Earl  of  Suffield,  got  by  Laurel,  so  resembled  another  horse, 
Camel,  '  that  it  was  whispered,  nay,  even  asserted,  at  New 
Market,  that  he  must  have  heen  got  by  Camel.'  It  was  ascer- 
tained, however,  that  the  only  relation  which  the  colt  bore  to 
Camel  was,  that  the  latter  had  served  his  mother  the  previous 
season.  In  farther  illustration  of  this  point,  I  adduce  an  inter- 
esting statement,  made  by  Professor  Low.  After  remarking  that 
'sometimes  there  is  difficulty  in  getting  a  thorough  bred  mare  to 
breed  for  the  first  time  with  a  thorough  bred  horse,'  and  that  'in 
this  case,  in  order  to  cause  her  to  commence  breeding,  a  coarse 
stallion  is  put  to  her,'  Professor  Low  adds,  'but  the  effect  never 
fails  to  be  seen  in  the  progeny,  the  coarser  characters  of  the  first 
male  re-appearing,  however  highly  bred  the  subsequent  stallions 
may  be.' 

"2.     Breeders  of  cattle  are  familiar  with  analogous  facts  as 

occurring  in  the  Bovine  race.     The  two  following  cases,  taken 

from  Mr.  M'Gillavray,  may  serve  as  examples:  A  pure  Abcr- 

decnshire  heifer,  was  served  with  a  pure  Teeswater  bull,  by 

10* 


226  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

which  she  had  a  first-cross  calf.  The  following  season,  the  same 
cow  was  served  with  a  pure  Aberdeenshire  bull:  the  produce 
was  a  cross  calf,  which,  when  two  years  old,  had  very  long  horns, 
the  parents  being  both  polled.  Again,  a  pure  Aberdeenshire 
cow  was  served,  in  1845,  with  a  cross  bull,  that  is  to  say,  an 
animal  produced  between  a  first-cross  cow  and  a  pure  Teeswatcr 
bull.  To  this  bull  she  had  a  cross  calf.  Next  season  she  was 
served  with  a  pure  Aberdeenshire  bull :  the  produce  was  quite  a 
cross  in  shape  and  color. 

"3.  With  regard  to  the  Dog,  it  has  often  been  observed, 
and,  indeed,  it  seems  to  be  matter  of  notoriety,  that  a  well  bred 
bitch,  if  she  have  been  impregnated  by  a  mongrel  dog,  will  not, 
although  lined  subsequently  by  a  pure  dog,  bear  thorough  bred 
puppies  ever  after,  or  at  least  in  the  next  two  or  three  litters. 
And  it  appears  farther,  that  the  progeny  are  affected  in  respect, 
not  merely  of  their  shape  and  color,  but  of  their  natural  instinct 
also.  A  pure  Terrier  bitch,  (of  the  Skye  breed,)  of  a  dark  brown 
color,  with  red  legs,  was  lined  the  first  and  second  time  she  came 
in  season,  by  one  and  the  self-same  dog — a  mongrel  cur, — and 
produced-in  the  first  litter  four,  and  in  the  second,  three  puppies, 
all  of  which  took  very  decidedly  after  the  cur,  which  was  black, 
with  red  legs  and  white  feet.  On  the  third  occasion  she  was 
lined  by  a  pure  dog  (of  a  grey  color)  of  exactly  the  same  breed 
as  herself;  and,  in  order  that  no  other  might  have  access  to  her, 
she  was  locked  up  with  this  dog  the  whole  time  her  heat  lasted. 
The  issue  was  two  puppies,  both  of  which  bore  the  closest 
possible  resemblance  to  the  cur,  in  color,  shape,  and  appearance 
generally. 

"4.  The  like  occurrence  has  been  observed  in  respect  to  the 
Pig.  A  sow  of  the  black-and-white  breed,  (known  as  Mr. 
Western's  breed,)  belonging  to  Mr.  Giles,  became  pregnant  by  a 
boar  of  the  wild  breed,  of  a  doep  chestnut  color.  The  pigs  pro- 
duced were  duly  mixed,  the  color  of  the  boar  being  in  some  of 


TREATMENT  OP  BREEDING  COWS.  227 

them  very  predominant.  The  sow  being  afterwards  put  to  a 
boar  of  the  same  breed  as  her  own,  some  of  the  progeny  were 
observed  to  be  stained,  or  otherwise  marked,  with  the  chestnut 
color  that  prevailed  in  the  former  litter.  And,  on  a  subsequent 
impregnation,  the  boar  being  still  of  the  same  breed  as  the  sow, 
some  of  the  latter  were  also  slightly  marked  with  the  chestnut 
color.  What  gives  additional  value  to  this  observation,  is,  that 
in  the  course  of  many  years'  experience,  the  breed  in  question 
was  never  known  to  produce  offspring  having  the  smallest  tinge 
of  the  chestnut  color. 

"5.  Not  the  least  striking  examples,  perhaps,  of  the  phenom- 
enon, are  the  two  following,  observed  in  the  Sheep; — the  first 
communicated  to  me  by  my  friend,  Dr.  William  Wells,  of  the 
island  of  Grenada — the  other  by  Mr.  William  M'Combie,  Tilly- 
four,  in  Aberdeenshire : 

"A  small  flock  of  ewes,  belonging  to  Dr.  Wells,  were  tupped 
a  few  years  ago  by  a  ram  procured  for  that  purpose  from  the 
manager  of  a  neighboring  estate.  The  ewes  were  all  of  them 
white  and  woolly.  The  ram  was  of  quite  another  breed,  being 
(besides  having  other  marks  of  difference,)  of  a  chocolate  color, 
and  hairy  like  the  goat.  The  progeny  were  of  course  crosses, 
bearing,  however,  a  great  resemblance  to  the  male  parent. 

''The  next  season,  Dr.  Wells  procured  another  ram  of  precise- 
ly the  same  breed  as  the  ewes.  The  progeny  of  this  second 
connection  showed  distinct  marks  of  resemblance  to  the  former 
ram  in  color  and  covering.  And  the  like  phenomenon,  occurring 
under  the  like  circumstances,  was  observed  in  the  lambs  of  some 
other  adjoining  estates  in  Grenada,  and  was  the  occasion  of  equal 
surprise  and  perplexity  to  the  owners  of  the  animals. 

"  Six  very  superior  pure  bred  Wac£-faced  horned  ewes,  the 
property  of  Mr.  Harry  Shaw,  in  the  parish  of  Leochel-Cushnie, 
in  Aberdeenshire,  were  tupped  in  the  autumn  of  1844, — some  of 
them  by  a  Leicester,  i.e.,  a  ivhile- faced,  and  polled  ram, — others 


228  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  them  by  a  Southdown,  i.e.,  a  dun-faced  and  polled  ram.  The 
lambs  thus  begotten  were  crosses. 

"In  the  autumn  of  1845,  the  same  ewes  were  tupped  by  a 
very  fine  pure  black-faced  horned  ram,  i.e.,  one  of  exactly  the 
same  breed  as  the  ewes  themselves.  To  Mr.  Shaw's  astonish- 
ment, the  lambs  were  all,  without  exception,  polled  and  broivnish 
in  the  face,  instead  of  being  black-faced  and  horned. 

"In  autumn,  1846,  the  ewes  were  again  served  with  another 
very  superior  ram  of  their  own  breed.  Again  the  lambs  were 
mongrels.  They  did  not,  indeed,  exhibit  so  much  of  the  char- 
acters of  the  Leicester  and  Southdown  breads,  as  did  the  lambs 
of  the  previous  year ;  but  two  of  them  were  polled,  and  one  dun- 
faced,  with  very  small  horns,  while  the  other  three  were  white- 
faced,  with  small  round  horns  only.  Mr.  Shaw  at  length  parted 
with  those  fine  ewes,  without  obtaining  from  them  one  pure  bred 
lamb. 

"To  the  foregoing  examples,  I  may  add  two  important  general 
statements  on  the  subject,  made  by  Mr.  M'Gillavray  and  by  Pro- 
fessor Low.  The  former,  after  referring  to  several  of  the  cases 
just  given,  adds:  ' Many  more  instances  might  be  cited,  did  time 
permit.  Among  cattle  and  horses  they  are  of  every  day  occur- 
rence : '  and  the  latter,  after  giving  the  particulars  already  quoted 
respecting  the  horse,  observes,  '•many  analogous  examples  could 
be  given  in  the  case  of  other  animals.'  And  I  may  remark,  gen- 
erally, that  since  my  attention  was  first  particularly  drawn  to  the 
subject,  inquiry  made  in  various  quarters  has  satisfied  me  of  the 
accuracy  of  these  general  allegations.  I  have  not,  it  is  true, 
seen  any  examples  of  the  sort;  but  opportunities  for  doing  so 
have  not  lain  in  my  way.  I  have  learnt,  however,  that  many 
among  the  Agricultural  body  in  this  district  are  familiar  with  the 
thing  to  a  degree  that  is  annoying  to  them ;  finding  that,  after 
breeding  crosses,  their  cows,  though  served  with  bulls  of  the 
same  breed,  yield  crosses  still,  or  rather  mongrels. 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  229 

"Now,  an  ingenious  explanation  of  the  phenomenon  has 
recently  been  offered  by  Mr.  M'Gillavray,  of  Iluntly.  'When 
a  pure  animal  of  any  breed  (says  Mr.  M'Gillavray,)  has  been 
pregnant  to  an  animal  of  a  different  breed,  such  pregnant  animal 
is  a  cross  ever  after;  the  purity  of  her  blood  being  lost,  in  conse- 
quence of  her  connection  with  the  foreign  animal;'  and  again: 
'  If  a  cow,  say  of  the  pure  Aberdeenshire  breed,  is  in  calf  to  a 
bull  of  the  short-horn  breed,  (known  as  the  Teeswater  breed,)  in 
proportion  as  this  calf  partakes  of  the  nature  and  physical  char- 
acters of  the  bull,  just  in  proportion  will  the  blood  of  the  cow 
become  contaminated,  and  herself  a  cross,  forever  incapable  of 
producing  a  pure  calf  of  any  breed.'  'It  is  maintained,  there- 
fore, (Mr.  M'Gillavray  adds,)  that  the  great  variety  of  nonde- 
script animals  to  be  met  with,  are  the  result  of  the  crossing 
system;  the  prevailing  evil  of  which  is,  the  admission  of  bulls 
of  various  breeds  to  the  same  cow,  whereby  the  blood  is  com- 
pletely vitiated.' 

"This  theory,  of  course  applies  only  to  that  class  of  animals 
(the  mammalia)  where  the  female  is  provided  with  a  womb,  and 
has  her  offspring  lodged  there  for  a  time.  And  in  order  to  the 
better  understanding  of  the  theory,  attention  is  requested  to  the 
following  considerations:  By  the  formation  of  the  after-birth 
(placenta,)  a  connection  is  established  between  the  mother  and 
the  living  creature  (foetus)  in  her  womb,  through  which  the 
latter  is  continually  drawing  supplies  from  the  mother's  blood, 
for  its  growth  and  maintenance.  But  there  are  good  grounds 
for  believing  that,  through  the  same  channel,  the  mother  is  as 
constantly  (though,  doubtless,  in  much  less  quantity)  abstracting 
materials  from  the  blood  of  the  foetus.  Now,  is  it  all  unrea- 
sonable to  suppose  that  the  materials  in  question  may  be  charged 
with  (or  have  inherent  in  them)  the  constitutional  qualities  of  the 
foetus,  and  that,  passing  into  the  body  of  the  mother,  and  mixing 
there  with  the  general  mass  of  her  blood,  they  may  impart  those 


230  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

qualities  to  her  system?  This  supposition  will,  perhaps,  appear 
the  less  improbable,  if  regard  be  had  to  the  length  of  time  during 
which  the  connection  between  the  mother  and  foetus  is  kept  up, 
and  during  which  this  transference  of  materials  must  go  on — a 
period  of  some  weeks,  or  even  of  several  months.  But  the  qual- 
ities referred  to  must  in  part  be  derived  by  the  foetus  from  its 
male  parent,  and  be  to  that  extent  identical  with  his.  The  dis- 
tinctive peculiarities,  therefore,  of  this  parent  may  thus  come  to 
be  engrafted  on  the  mother,  or  to  attach  in  some  way  to  her 
system;  and  if  so,  what  more  likely  than  that  they  should  be 
communicated  by  her  to  any  offspring  she  may  afterwards  have 
by  other  males? 

"The  influence  thus  supposed  to  be  exerted  by  the  male  par- 
ent, through  or  by  means  of  the  foetus,  on  the  constitution  and 
on  the  breeding  powers  of  the  female,  may  appropriately  be 
designated  inoculation  influence.  To  go  more  largely,  however, 
into  this  part  of  the  subject,  were  beside  our  present  purpose, 
and  would  involve  details,  perhaps  fully  intelligible  only  to  the 
professed  physiologist.  But  it  is  due  to  Mr.  M'Gillavray,  to 
state,  that  his  theory  not  only  furnishes  a  satisfactory  explanation 
of  the  phenomenon,  but  is  consistent  with  acknowledged  facts 
in  physiology,  and  is  borne  out  to  a  greater  extent  than  he  was 
perhaps  aware,  by  the  known  history  of  blood  diseases. 

"  In  a  practical  point  of  view,  however,  it  is  quite  immaterial 
whether  this  theory  gives  the  true  explanation  of  the  phenome- 
non or  not.  All  that  is  to  prove  and  be  assured  of  is,  that  the 
phenomenon  is  exclusively  referable  to  something  corporeal  (that 
ia,  material  or  organic)  connected  with  the  prior  impregnation  of 
the  female.  And  were  this  indubitably  certain,  all  that  need  be 
sought  after  in  a  practical  inquiry  into  the  subject  is,  to  observe 
accurately  the  appearances  presented  by  the  animals  produced  in 
the  subsequent  connections  of  the  female  with  other  males — to 
note  the  degree  of  resemblance  which  obtains  to  the  first  or  to 


TREATMENT  OP  BREEDING  COWS.  231 

a  former  male — to  ascertain,  out  of  any  given  number  of  cases, 
in  what  proportion  this  effect  is  observed — and,  generally,  when 
it  is  observed,  to  determine  the  circumstances  under  which  it 
holds,  as  also  those  under  which  it  varies  in  different  classes  of 
animals,  or  in  different  individuals  of  the  same  class." 

[NOTE. — We  consider  this  theory  of  the  "vitiation  of  the 
blood"  of  the  mother,  by  her  blood  connection  with  the  fcetus 
in  her  womb,  stated  by  Mr.  M'Gillavray,  as  altogether  too 
"ingenious"  and  finely  drawn.  The  "theory,"  however,  has 
had  an  existence,  to  more  or  less  extent,  among  the  popular 
uneducated  mind,  perhaps  from  time  immemorial.  In  our  own 
boyhood,  more  than  fifty  years  ago,  when  there  was  a  great  rage 
for  introducing  the  blood  of  the  Spanish  Merino  Sheep  into  the 
flocks  of  the  Eastern  States,  some  farmers  indulged  the  fancy 
that  if  their  coarse  common  ewes  could  be  tupped  by  a  Merino 
ram,  not  only  would  the  lamb  be  of  half  the  Merino  blood,  but 
the  ewe  herself  partake  of  such  proportion  of  his  blood  also,  so 
as  to  cause  her  future  offspring,  by  whatever  ram  she  might  be 
connected,  to  retain  a  share  of  the  Merino!  How  such  an 
absurdity  should  obtain  credence  we  know  not,  otherwise  than 
by  the  same  influence  which  created  ghosts,  spooks  and  witches. 

The  fcetus  is  enclosed  in  a  case  (placenta)  within  the  womb, 
and  receives  its  nourishment  only  through  the  peculiar  organs 
of  the  mother,  which  are  in  play  during  its  location  there. 
That  process  is  an  extraordinary  function  of  the  female,  active 
only  during  pregnancy,  and  in  no  way  common  with  her  ordinary 
habits.  The  theory  would  make  the  foetus,  in  the  circulation  of 
its  blood  back  into  the  system  of  the  mother,  a  part  of  her  own 
organization,  whereas,  the  foetus  is  only  an  offshoot  of  her  sys- 
tem, nourished  by  a  peculiar  internal  process,  or  secretion,  like 
the  milk  she  gives  for  its  support  after  birth. 

If  the  blood  of  the  foetus  circulated,  or  were  returned  into  the 
veins  of  the  mother,  the  fcetus  would  be  a  part  of  herself,  instead 


232  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  an  offshoot.  Its  birth  would  be  a  wrenching  out  of  a  part  of 
her  internal  system,  instead  of  relieving  her  of  an  increasing 
burthen  which  is  in  itself  complete,  and  wholly  separated  from 
her  own  being,  so  far  as  the  ordinary  functions  of  life  and  cir- 
culation are  concerned. 

Our  author,  Dr.  Harvey,  has  also  mentioned  several  instances 
in  the  human  family,  where  children  of  a  second  husband  have 
strongly  resembled  the  children  of  his  wife  by  a  previous  hus- 
band, or  some  male  friend  with  whom  she  had  only  been  on 
terms  of  social  intimacy.  That  may  be,  but  we  ascribe  it  wholly 
to  imagination,  or  sympathy  of  the  mother  with  the  memory  of 
the  first  one.  He  also  speaks  of  white  mothers,  who,  having 
their  first  child  by  a  man  of  another  race,  as  a  Negro,  Moor,  or 
Mongolian,  and  afterwards  bearing  children  to  men  of  their  own 
1  race,  the  children  resembled  more  or  less  the  fathers  of  their  first 
born.  That  may  be  so,  owing  to  the  same  influences  as  in  the 
other  cases;  but  they  are  too  few  and  isolated  to  make  a  rule. 
We,  ourself,  have  known  cases  where  white  women  had  their 
first  child  by  a  negro,  and  were  afterwards  married  to  white  men, 
but  their  children  were  as  purely  white  as  any  others. 

We  consider  the  theory  as  entirely  fanciful,  so  far  as  humanity 
is  concerned,  where  the  imagination  has  vastly  more  play  than 
in  the  brute  creation;  and  in  the  latter,  so  extreme  and  wide 
apart  in  its  examples  from  the  ordinary  product  of  their  species, 
as  to  be  classed  among  the  occasional  monstrosities  which  occur 
in  the  conception  and  breeding  of  all  animated  beings. — L.  F.  A.] 

Again  Doctor  Harvey: 

"But  it  so  happens  that  a  phenomenon  precisely  similar  to 
the  one  before  us — so  like  it,  at  least  as  not  to  be  distinguishable 
from  it — is  sometimes  seen  under  very  different  circumstances. 
An  animal  (for  example,)  is  sometimes  observed  to  present  the 
same  sort  of  resemblance  to  another  animal,  with  which  its  mother 
has  never,  at  any  time,  had  sexual  connection, — a  circumstance 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  233 

ascribed,  and  (in  many  such  cases,)  on  good  grounds,  to  some 
state  of  the  mother's  mind,  having  a  relation  to  that  other  ani- 
mal, at  or  some  time  before  the  period  of  conception,  or  during 
her  pregnancy.  It  is  conceivable,  therefore,  that  in  many  cases, 
— nay  in  every  case,  where  an  animal  resembles  another  (not  its 
progenitor,)  by  which  its  mother  had  formerly  borne  offspring, — 
that  is  to  say,  in  the  whole  set  of  cases  which  form  the  subject 
of  these  pages, — the  resemblance  may  be  explained  quite  as  well 
on  the  principle  of  mental  influence,  as  on  that  of  inoculation; 
or,  at  least,  that  in  ascribing  it,  with  Mr.  M'Gillavray,  to  the  latter 
cause, — or  to  any  purely  corporeal  cause  arising  out  of  the  prior 
sexual  intercourse,  a  manifest  source  of  fallacy  attaches  to  the 
assumption.  The  phenomenon  may  really  be  resolvable,  in  any, 
and  in  every  instance,  into  an  affair  of  the  mother's  mind. 

"The  possibility,  therefore,  that  mental  influence  may  furnish 
the  true  explanation  of  the  phenomenon,  at  once  raises  a  ques- 
tion which  bears  so  directly  on  the  present  subject,  as  to  demand 
consideration  in  connection  with  it.  To  consider  it  fully,  "how- 
ever, at  this  stage,  would  keep  the  test  to  be  proposed  for  its 
solution  too  long  out  of  view.  I  shall,  therefore,  here  content 
myself  with  one  example  in  illustration  of  this  kind  of  influence. 

"A  mare  and  a  horse  (a  gelding)  had,  for  some  years,  worked 
together  on  the  same  farm,  occupied  adjacent  stalls  in  the  same 
stable,  and  pastured  together  in  summer  in  the  same  fields.  The 
gelding  was  of  a  black  color,  with  white  legs  and  face,  and  had  a 
singular  peculiarity  in  the  form  of  the  hind  legs,  which,  when 
the  animal  was  standing,  appeared  quite  straight,  there  being  no 
appearance  of  the  leg  being  bent  at  the  hough-joint,  as  in  ordi- 
nary cases ;  the  pasterns,  likewise,  were  Very  long,  so  as  to  cause 
the  feet  to  look  as  if  placed  almost  at  right  angles  to  the  legs. 
After  having  been  some  years  thus  associated  with  this  gelding, 
the  mare  was  covered  with  a  stallion  of  the  same  color  as  her- 
self— both  stallion  and  mare  being  of  a  bay  color,  with  black  legs 


234  AMERICAN   CATTLE. 

and  a  small  spot  of  white  only,  on  the  forehead.  The  foal  which 
was  the  produce  of  this  connection,  very  exactly  resembled  the 
gelding  in  color  and  in  shape,  and  very  remarkably  in  the  shape 
of  the  hind  legs,  as  above  described.* 

"The  striking  feature  of  this  case,  besides  the  circumstance 
that  there  could  have  been  no  sexual  connection  between  the 
mare  arid  the  gelding,  is,  that  the  resemblance  of  the  foal  to  the 
gelding  was  at  once  general,  and  yet  extended  to  a  marked  pecu- 
liarity of  conformation;  thus  identifying  the  resemblance  with 
something  having  a  relation  to  that  particular  horse.  This  rela- 
tion could  be  no  other  than  a  mental  one,  on  the  part  of  the 
mother,  arising  out  of  her  association  with  the  horse.  But  had 
this  horse  been  a  stallion,  and  had  he  previously  had  fruitful 
intercourse  with  the  mare,  the  resemblance  might  very  fairly 
have  been  attributed  to  something  material  connected  therewith. 

"It  is  clearly  important,  then,  in  regard  to  the  proper  subject 
of  this  essay,  to  guard  against  a  fallacy  of  this  kind." 

""It  appears  that  many  breeders  of  stock  are  impressed  with 
the  belief,  that  certain  colors  present  to  the  eye  of  the  parent 
animals,  and  particularly  of  the  female,  at  the  time  and  in  the  act 
of  their  being  coupled  together, — and  to  the  eye  of  the  female, 
both  before  and  during  her  pregnancy,  influence  the  color  of  the 
progeny;  and  that  they  make  this  belief  a  practical  principle  of 
action  in  the  breeding  of  their  stock,  in  order  either  to  prevent 
or  to  secure  the  admixture  of  any  particular  color  in  the  offspring, 
different  from  that  of  the  parent  animals.  'We  know,'  says  an 
anonymous  writer,  'a  great  breeder  of  pure  Angus  stock  (black 
polled  breed,)  who  makes  it  a  rule  to  have  every  animal  about 
his  farm  of  a  black  color,  down  to  the  very  poultry.'  And  an 


"*  Communicated  to  the  author  by  Dr.  John  B.  Trail,  of  Monymusk,  Aberdeen- 
shire.  'Prom  the  description  I  have  attempted  to  give  you,  (Dr.  Trail  writes  me,) 
you  conld  not  form  any  very  distinct  idea  of  the  peculiar  conformation  of  the  geld- 
ing ;  but  the  resemblance  of  the  foal  to  him  was  remarkably  clear.' " 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  235 

eminent  breeder  of  the  same  kind  of  stock  in  this  county,  informs 
me,  that  he  extends  this  rule  to  the  steadings  in  which  his  cattle 
are  kept. 

"To  illustrate  generally  the  grounds  of  this  belief  and  prac- 
tice, the  following  cases  may  be  cited : 

"A  black  polled  Angus  cow,  belonging  to  Mr.  Mustard,  a 
farmer  in  Forfarshire,  came  into  season  while  pasturing  in  a  field 
bounded  by  that  of  a  neighboring  farmer.  Out  of  this  field 
there  jumped  into  the  other  field  an  ox,  of  a  white,  color,  with 
black  spots,  and  horned,  which  went  with  the  cow  till  she  was 
brought  to  the  bull — an  animal  of  the  same  color  and  breed  as 
herself.  Mr.  Mustard  had  not  a  horned  animal  in  his  possession, 
nor  any  with  the  least  white  on  it;  and  yet  the  produce  of  this 
(black  and  polled)  cow  and  bull  was  a  black  and  white  calf,  with 
horns. 

"In  1849,  twenty  cows  of  the  black  polled  Angus  breed — 
belonging  to  Mr.  William  M'Combie,  in  this  county,  and  whose 
stock  is  perhaps  the  finest  in  the  kingdom — produced  as  many 
calves,  all  of  them  black  and  polled,  except  one  single  calf,  which 
was  yellow  and  white  spotted.  Mr.  M'Combie  had,  as  usual 
with  him,  taken  the  precaution  of  causing  the  cows,  both  before 
and  during  their  pregnancy,  to  mix  with  none  save  perfectly 
black  cattle,  except  in  respect  of  the  mother  of  this  calf,  which 
cow  had  unwittingly  been  put  to  an  out-farm,  to  be  starved,  in 
order  to  fit  her  for  the  bull.  There,  for  a  considerable  period 
prior  to  her  being  served  with  the  bull,  she  had  grazed  with  a 
large  yellow  and  white  spotted  ox,  of  which  ox  the  calf  she  sub- 
sequently bore  was  the  very  picture — the  likeness,  however, 
extending  no  farther  than  to  the  color,  and  the  calf  still  retain- 
ing the  shape  and  configuration  of  its  parents,  which  w«re  both 
of  the  same  breed  and  color. 

"Out  of  a  large  herd  of  cows,  of  the  pure  Teeswater  breed, 
all  of  them  of  the  brown  or  roan  color,  (belonging  to  Mr.  Cruick- 


236  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

shank,  Sittyton,  near  Aberdeen,)  there  is  every  year  dropped 
one,  or  at  most  two,  white  calves,  which,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
introduction  of  this  color  among  the  cattle,  are  invariably  sold, 
and  sent  away.  In  1849,  however,  concurrently  with  the  white- 
washing of  all  the  farm-steadings,  the  very  large  number  of 
twelve  white  calves  were  produced.  And  the  like  occurrence 
happened  the  same  year  also,  in  the  herd  of  an  extensive  breeder 
of  the  same  kind  of  stock,  in  Yorkshire,  in  connection  with  the 
like  process  of  white-washing — this  process  having,  in  both 
cases,  been  very  extensively  carried  out  before  the  breeding 
season  began,  with  the  view  of  preventing  the  breaking  out  of 
the  pleuro-pneumonia,  then  epidemic  in  the  neighborhood,  and 
very  destructive.* 

"At  the  time  when  a  stallion  was  about  to  cover  a  mare,  the 
stallion's  pale  color  was  objected  to,  whereupon  the  groom,  know- 
ing  the  effect  of  color  upon  horses'  imaginations,  presented  before 
the  stallion  a  mare,  of  a  pleasing  color,  which  had  the  desired 
effect  of  determining  a  dark  color  in  the  offspring.  This  is  said 
to  have  been  repeated  with  success  in  the  same  horse  more  than 
once. 

"I  was  told  (Mr.  M'Combie  writes  me,)  by  an  old  servant  of 
mine,  Morrice  Smith,  that  when  he  was  a  servant  in  the  parish 
of  Glass,  (Aberdeenshire,)  a  black  bull  served  a  black  cow  at  the 
time  when  a  white  mare  passed  them,  and  that  the  produce  was 
twin  white  calves.  There  were  no  white  cattle  upon  the  farm 
where  this  occurrence  happened.f 

"  *  Communicated  by  Mr.  Cruickshank,  who  says  further,  that  he  has  had  too 
many  proofs  of  the  agency  of  the  cause  in  question,  to  allow  him  entertaining  any 
doubt  on  the  subject." 

"  t  My  friend,  Dr.  J.  M.  Duncan,  of  Edinburgh,  writes  me  that  he  has  '  more  than 
once  heard  farm-servants  say,  that  it  is  a  sure  plan  to  get  a  white  foal,  to  hang  up  a 
pure  white  sheet  before  the  mare  when  she  conceives.'  Probably  hanging  up  such 
a  sheet  in  the  stable  during  the  whole  period  of  pregnancy  would  be  equally 
effectual." 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  237 

"Such  cases  as  several  of  those  now  cited,  can  scarcely  fail  to 
recall  to  the  reader's  mind  the  story,  given  in  the  book  of  Gene- 
^is,  of  Jacob  and  his  peeled  rods,  and  the  effect  of  these  in 
causing  the  flocks,  before  whom  they  were  placed  at  the  time  of 
conception,  to  bring  forth  ring-streaked,  speckled,  and  spotted 
cattle. 

"It  does  not  appear  from  the  sacred  narrative  whether  the 
influence  of  the  rods  was  exerted  on  the  minds  both  of  the  male 
and  female  cattle,  or  confined  to  those  of  the  female. 

"All  that  need  be  said,  in  the  way  of  direct  inference  from 
the  facts  here  brought  together,  may  be  comprised  within  a  nar- 
row compass. 

"Supposing  the  statements  respecting  them  to  be  authentic — 
and  no  question,  I  apprehend,  as  to  this  can  well  be  raised — the 
cases  are  nearly  unequivocal.  The  only  fallacy  that  can  attach 
to  them,  is  that  arising  from  the  possibility,  that  the  peculiarities 
in  the  progeny  were  either  purely  accidental,  or  owing  to  corres- 
ponding qualities  latent  in  the  parents,  but  breaking  out  in  the 
offspring.  The  relation,  however,  in  most  of  the  cases,  between 
the  peculiarities  in  question  and  their  presumed  causes,  is  too 
close  and  of  too  special  a  character  to  admit  of  either  supposi- 
tion. We  are,  therefore,  well  entitled,  I  think,  to  regard  the 
greater  number,  if  not  the  whole  of  them,  as  examples  of  mental 
causes,  so  operating  either  on  the  mind  of  the  female,  and  so 
acting  on  her  reproductive  powers,  or  on  the  mind  of  the  male 
parent,  and  so  influencing  the  qualities  of  his  semen,  as  to  modify 
the  nutrition  and  development  of  the  offspring. 

"How,  in  respect  of  the  female,  this  influence  is  exerted,  and 
what  the  conditions  of  its  action,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine. 
The  mental  affections  seem  to  have  been  in  most  of  the  cases, 
and  were  probably  in  all  of  them,  of  a  strong  and  enduring  kind ; 
and  we  can  easily  conceive  this  to  have  been  essential  to  the 
result.  That  the  alteration  in  the  growth  of  the  foetus  was 


238  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

determined  solely,  as  is  vulgarly  supposed,  by  the  images  in  the 
mind  of  the  mother,  i.e.,  by  the  mere  sensations  and  perceptions 
therein  produced,  independently  of  the  emotions  excited  by 
them — cannot  well  be  supposed.  It  is,  doubtless,  to  this  'com- 
pound state'  of  mind — to  use  an  expression  of  Sir  James  Mack- 
intosh— a  state  'easily  called  to  mind,'  in  consequence  of  the 
vividness  of  its  first  impression,  'frequently  recurring,'  and 
'warmly  felt,'  that  we  must  ascribe  the  effect. 

"It  is  not  unlikely,  that  this  particular  agency  of  the  mind  is 
more  frequently  exerted  in  the  females  of  the  lower  animals, 
than  in  those  of  our  own  species ;  and  that  cases  exemplifying  it, 
are  oftener  met  with  in  the  brutes  than  in  man.  If  this  be  so,  a 
reasonable  explanation  of  the  fact  may  be  given.  We  know 
that  the  minds  of  the  lower  animals  are  in  a  great  measure 
limited  to  particulars,  and  these  few  in  number,  and  almost 
exclusively  external  objects  of  sense;  that  the  external  senses 
are  more  perfect  in  them  than  in  us ;  and  that  the  perceptions 
resulting  from  their  exercise  seenr,  in  various  instances,  to  follow 
more  surely  and  more  quickly — to  be  more  intuitive  and  wider 
in  their  scope,  and  more  vivid — in  them  than  in  man ;  and  that 
the  simpler  emotions  (excited  by  those  perceptions)  of  joy,  fear, 
affection,  anger,  &c.,  of  which  they  are  manifestly  susceptible, 
seem  often  to  be  peculiarly  strong.  "We  know  also  that  they 
possess  the  faculty  of  memory;  and  we  may  well  suppose,  from 
their  limited  range  of  association,  (or  suggestion,)  that  sensations 
that  formerly  made  a  powerful  impression  on  their  minds,  will  be 
more  easily  and  oftener  recalled  in  them  than  in  us,  who,  though 
more  apt  to  be  'troubled  about  many  things,'  are  proportionally 
less  apt  to  be  affected,  or  at  least  permanently  or  continuously 
impressed,  by  any  one  thing.  These  circumstances  and  pecu- 
liarities of  mental  action,  must  obviously  be  singularly  favorable 
to  the  production  of  the  results  in  question. 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  239 

"It  may  be  remarked  in  conclusion,  that  the  word  imagination, 
generally  used  to  designate  the  mental  states  here  concerned,  is, 
perhaps,  an  unfortunate  one ;  and  it  may  be  questioned  whether 
much  of  the  scepticism  prevalent  among  physiologists  as  to  the 
effects,  or  alleged  effects,  on  the  development  of  the  foetus,  of 
certain  complex  mental  affections,  be  not,  in  great  part,  owing  to 
the  use  of  that  term.  Certain  mental  conceptions  or  ideas,  sug- 
gested to  the  mind,  independently  of  any  present  or  actual 
external  object,  and  exciting  strong  and  enduring  emotions,  con- 
stitute that  state  of  mind,  to  denote  which,  imagination  is  used 
here.  Often,  however,  it  is  used  to  denote  the  power  by  which 
the  mind  forms  to  itself  pictures  which  have,  in  such  a  combina- 
tion, no  prototypes  in  nature — the  power  of  creative  or  poetical 
imagination,  which,  manifestly,  is  not  possessed  by  the  brutes. 
The  state  referred  to  here,  that  of  simple  imagination,  is  one 
compounded  only  of  simple  conception  and  emotion." 

[NOTE. — The  reader  may,  perhaps,  tire  of  this  long,  and  some- 
what philosophical,  as  well  as  speculative  essay;  but,  in  the 
breeding  of  valuable  stock,  we  wish  to  give  all  the  information 
which  may  instruct  us  in  so  important  a  branch  of  physiology. 

In  addition  to  the  several  instances  already  narrated  of  the 
influence  on  color  of  progeny  in  the  course  of  gestation,  Captain 
Charles  Bryant,  of  Fairhaven,  Mass.,  recently  related  to  us  an 
instance.  A  gentleman,  residing  in  that  vicinity,  owning  an  island 
in  Buzzard's  Bay,  some  miles  off  the  coast,  one  summer  sent  a 
considerable  number  of  black  cows,  which  were  in  calf  to  a 
black  bull,  over  there  to  graze,  wishing  to  keep  them  by  them- 
selves, and  breed  calves  of  the  same  color.  A  dun-colored  steer 
was  either  sent  with  them,  or  a  short  time  afterwards,  and  ranged 
in  their  company  all  summer.  When  the  calves  were  dropped, 
every  one  of  them  was  the  color  of  the  steer  I  So  strangely  will 
influences,  almost  unaccountable,  determine  results  adverse  to 
the  most  natural  probabilities. — L.  F.  A.] 


240  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"The  subject  of  mental  influence  has  been  here  considered 
without  reference  to  any  inquiry  into  the  specialities  of  its  opera- 
tion. But  were  such  an  inquiry  to  be  entered  on,  it  would  be 
proper  to  make  such  experiments  as  should  exhibit  how  far  the 
influence  in  question  may  operate — -first,  at  any  time  prior  to  the 
period  of  sexual  connection, — secondly,  at  the  time  of  such  con- 
nection,— and  thirdly,  during  pregnancy.  The  modes  of  devising 
and  conducting  experiments  of  this  kind,  will  readily  suggest 
themselves  to  any  one  conversant  in  these  matters." 

OCCASIONAL    BARRENNESS    IN    THE    COW. 

It  sometimes  occurs  that  heifers,  or  cows  which  have  been 
kept  in  high  condition,  do  not  readily  conceive,  although  they 
come  regularly  in  heat  at  the  proper  times,  and  are  properly 
served  by  the  bull.  If  they  continue  refractory,  the  better  way 
is  to  reduce  their  flesh  by  low  keep,  and  plenty  of  exercise. 
Turning  them  into  short  pasture,  is  the  best  way  during  the 
grazing  season,  and  short  keep  in  winter  may  reduce  them. 
They  seldom  fail  to  breed  under  such  treatment.  If  they  still 
prove  unfruitful,  a  drenching  dose  of  mild  physic  is  advisable,  (as 
glauber  salts,)  which  is  usually  effective,  and  harmless.  Some- 
times, after  receiving  the  bull,  they  will  pass  weeks,  or  months, 
without  showing  signs  of  heat,  and  then  seek  him  as  before, 
without  any  signs,  meantime,  of  abortion.  This  however,  is 
seldom  the  case,  unless  the  cow,  or  heifer,  be  in  high  condition. 
To  make  sure  and  constant  breeders,  it  is  a  better  course  to  keep 
them  only  in  good  flesh,  without  forcing.  They  are  uniformly 
healthier  under  such  treatment,  as  it  is  a  more  natural  condition, 
and  the  calves  are  better  than  from  over-fed,  or  highly  pam- 
pered cows. 

Barrenness  in  high  bred  cows,  is  a  serious  matter  to  the  owner, 
or  breeder.  With  common,  or  grade  cows  it  is  of  less  conse- 
quence, as  the  unfertile  ones  can  be  readily  turned  off  for  beef. 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  241 

But  with  a  thorough  bred  cow,  worth  perhaps,  $500  or  $1,000, 
the  case  is  different,  and  if  the  cause  of  it  can  be  in  any  way- 
overcome,  the  remedy  should  be  resorted  to.  In  addition  to  the 
few  remarks  we  have  made,  we  consider  the  subject  of  sufficient 
importance  to  introduce  a  part  of  a  recent  discourse  on  "The 
Reproductive  Powers  of  Domestic  Animals:  by  Henry  Tanner, 
Professor  of  Rural  Economy  in  the  Queen's  College,  Birming- 
ham;" from  the  Journal  of  the  Royal  Agricultural  Society, 
England : 

"An  enfeebled  condition  of  the  breeding  organs  is  one  of  the 
first  sources  of  trouble  for  the  breeder.  It  seldom  precedes,  but 
often  accompanies,  that  delicacy  of  constitution  to  which  refer- 
ence has  been  made.  Instead  of  the  females  breeding  in  a 
regular  manner,  we  find  them  come  into  season,  again  and  again, 
after  most  irregular  intervals.  This  results  from  one  of  the  fol- 
lowing causes:  either  the  female  does  not  become  impregnated, 
or  else  the  embryo  is  imperfectly  developed.  The  non-impreg- 
nation of  the  female,  may  generally  be  traced  to  an  excessive 
fatness  in  one  or  both  animals,  and  an  absence  of  constitutional 
vigor.  The  breeding  powers  are  most  energetic  when  the 
animals  are  in  moderate  condition,  uninfluenced  either  by  ex- 
treme fatness  or  leanness.  The  impregnation  of  the  female  is 
in  some  cases  prevented  by  natural  defect  or  malformation ;  but 
I  am  strongly  inclined  to  believe  that  such  cases  are  compara- 
tively rare. 

"Many  animals  are  condemned  as  barren  which  are  only  tem- 
porarily so,  in  consequence  of  injudicious  feeding  and  manage- 
ment, or  relatively  30^  in  consequence  of  the  male  being  unsuited, 
from  too  close  proximity  of  blood,  or  from  both  animals  being 
deficient  in  constitutional  vigor.  Examples  of  each  of  these 
cases  are  frequent.  Some  very  well  bred  heifers  which  had  been 
condemned  as  barren,  because,  after  very  persevering  trials  with 
various  bulls,  they  failed  to  breed,  I  placed  for  four  or  five 
11 


242  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

months  upon  poor  hilly  pasture,  to  bring  them  down  in  condition, 
and  immediately  after  this  they  bred  without  difficulty.  Captain 
J.  T.  Davy  has  communicated  to  me  some  similar  instances,  in 
which  most  hopeless  cases  of  barrenness  were  overcome,  by 
turning  the  heifers  upon  poor  common  land  with  a  young  bull. 
He  states  that  in  other  cases  the  same  result  had  been  attained 
by  working  the  heifers  in  the  plow,  like  oxen,  after  which  there 
has  been  no  trouble  in  getting  them  to  breed.  I  am  also  informed 
by  Mr.  Strafford,  of  another  instance,  in  which  apparent  sterility 
has  been  successfully  overcome.  The  late  Mr.  Jonas  "Webb, 
purchased  a  valuable  cow  from  the  herd  of  the  late  Lord  Spencer, 
for  a  moderate  sum  of  money,  in  consequence  of  her  being  con- 
demned as  barren. 

"After  the  purchase,  she  was  driven  from  Wiseton  to  Babra- 
ham,  (her  old  home  to  her  new  one,)  a  distance  of  between  one 
hundred  and  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles,  and  within  a  short 
time  she  bred.  'Dodona,'  the  cow  in  question,  when  a  heifer, 
produced  twin  calves,  and  subsequently  she  produced  another 
calf,  but,  as  she  then  ceased  to  breed,  she  was  sold.  A  change 
of  climate,  however,  brought  her  into  breeding  condition,  and  at 
the  time  of  her  decease,  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  sixty  valu- 
able animals  could  be  traced  to  this  cow,  which  had  been  sold  on 
two  occasions  as  barren.  Mr.  Webb  had  an  almost  parallel  case 
in  'Celia,'  which,  under  somewhat  similar  treatment,  after  being 
condemned  as  barren,  had  a  progeny  of  over  one  hundred  and 
eighty  traced  to  her  at  the  time  of  her  death. 

"These  results  were  all  gained  by  somewhat  severe  treatment, 
whereby  unhealthy  accumulations  of  fatty  matter,  previously 
existing  in  the  body,  impeding  generation,  were  taken  up  into 
the  system  for  the  support  of  life.  I  have  known  cases  in  which 
heifers  which  could  not  breed  were  exercised  daily,  by  being  led 
about  for  a  certain  length  of  time;  but  this  treatment  is  seldom 
sufficient  to  reduce  those  accumulations  which  impede  gener- 
ation. 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  243 

"Highly  satisfactory  results  have  been  gained  by  a  thorough 
change  of  climate,  when  the  stock  were  sent  to  hilly  districts 
where  the  air  is  bracing,  and  they  have  to  take  plenty  of  exer- 
cise. Barrenness  may  also  be  traced  to  too  close  relationship,  or 
a  similarity  of  temperament.  This  is,  however,  a  qualified  bar- 
renness, to  be  overcome  by  proper  selection  on  the  part  of  the 
breeder.  The  fat  condition  of  the  male  animal,  and  his  want 
of  constitutional  vigor,  are  frequently  the  chief  causes  of  diffi- 
culty. I  have  known  of  bulls,  which  had  become  valueless  for 
breeding  purposes,  being  worked  upon  the  land  in  carts,  and 
thereby  rendered  serviceable. 

"I  believe  that  we  have  the  condition  of  successful  reproduc- 
tion, very  much  under  our  own  control,  and  that  the  cases  of 
legitimate  barrenness,  either  on  the  part  of  the  male  or  female, 
are  much  more  rare  than  we  imagine.  I  know  that  animals 
which  are  naturally  capable  of  breeding,  can  be  rendered  incom- 
petent by  adopting  a  special  course  of  treatment ;  and  I  consider 
that  in  our  usual  system  of  management,  we  must  retard  and 
interfere  with  the  healthy  performance  of  this  natural  function 
of  animal  life. 

"For  the  purpose  of  more  fully  investigating  the  causes  of 
barrenness,  I  have  examined  the  ovaries  of  several  heifers,  which 
were,  after  careful  trial,  condemned  and  killed  as  barren;  and  I 
have  every  reason  to  believe  that  by  far  the  larger  proportion, 
were  naturally  quite  competent  for  breeding,  and  that  in  the 
majority  of  cases,  non-impregnation  arose  from  the  seminal  fluid 
never  reaching  the  ovum,  which  was  readv  for  fertilization,  or 
from  that  fluid  not  being  of  a  healthy  character.  In  some  cases 
in  which  the  ova  were,  to  all  appearance,  perfectly  healthy,  the 
tubes — whereby  the  seminal  fluid  should  have  been  conveyed — 
were  so  overcharged  with  fatty  matter,  that  impregnation  was 
rendered  impossible.  In  other  cases,  the  ovaries  were  in  an 
unhealthy  condition,  either  one  or  both  having,  to  a  great  extent, 


244  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

wasted  away.  Sometimes  one  of  the  ovaries  had  been  suffering 
from  atrophy,  and  the  other  in  such  an  irritable  and  sensitive 
condition,  that  it  might  be  almost  described  as  inflamed;  and 
under  such  circumstances,  the  formation  of  a  healthy  ovum  could 
scarcely  be  expected.  In  other  instances,  the  ovaries  had  become 
considerably  enlarged,  in  consequence  of  a  fatty  degeneration  of 
these  organs  having  taken  place.  I  have  not  sufficient  data 
before  me,  to  trace  these  several  results  to  their  respective  causes, 
except  in  some  of  those  cases  in  which  a  fatty  degeneration  of 
the  ovaries  had  taken  place. 

"Through  the  kind  help  of  Mr.  Reece,  of  Ross,  and  Mr.  Thos. 
Duckham,  of  Baysham  Court,  near  Hereford,  this  fatty  degener- 
ation of  the  ovaries  has  been  traced  to  the  use  of  food  rich  in 
sugar.  I  have  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  action  of  sugar, 
in  its  various  forms,  is  most  important  in  its  influence  upon  the 
generative  system;  and  I  think  there  is  just  cause  for  consider- 
ing that  any  animal  may,  by  its  use,  be  rendered  incompetent 
for  propagating  its  species.  Since  my  attention  has  been  drawn 
to  this  fact,  numerous  instances  have  come  under  my  observa- 
tion, tending  to  confirm  this  opinion.  From  among  the  cases 
which  I  could  mention,  it  will  probably  be  sufficient  for  me  to 
state  that  of  a  breeder  of  some  eminence,  who,  with  a  view  to 
an  improvement  in  the  condition  of  his  herd,  added  molasses 
to  the  dry  food  he  gave  to  his  stock.  It  certainly  produced 
the  result  he  anticipated,  for  their  improvement  in  appearance 
and  general  condition  was  most  satisfactory;  but  this  was 
accompanied  by  an  influence  he  had  never  expected;  for  his 
stock,  which  had  always  realized  high  prices  as  breeding 
stock,  now,  with  very  few  exceptions,  proved  to  be  valueless 
for  that  object,  male  and  female  being  alike  sterile.  As  soon  as 
this  was  discovered,  the  supply  of  molasses  was  stopped.  But 
whilst  the  animals,  which  had  not  been  under  its  influence, 
maintained  the  original  character  of  the  herd,  as  being  good 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  245 

breeding  stock,  it  is  very  doubtful  if  any  of  the  stock  which  had 
been  fed  for  any  length  of  time  on  food  mixed  with  molasses, 
ever  regained  their  breeding  powers.  It  is  more  than  probable 
that  a  fatty  degeneration  of  the  ovaries  took  place,  from  which 
they  would  but  slowly  recover  under  any  ordinary  treatment. 

"In  another  case,  in  which  molasses  had  been  used  for  some 
heifers  which  were  fattening,  it  had  the  effect  of  suppressing 
those  periodical  returns  of  restlessness  which  prevent  heifers 
feeding  as  well  as  steers;  and  it  kept  them  so  steadily  progress- 
ing during  the  whole  period  of  their  fattening,  that  the  result 
was  highly  satisfactory.  If,  therefore,  upon  further  trial,  we 
find  sugar  influential  in  checking  the  reproductive  functions,  we 
can  at  any  rate  exercise  a  proper  discretion  in  its  use;  and 
whilst  avoiding  it  for  breeding  animals,  we  may  encourage  its 
employment  where  cows  or  heifers  have  to  be  fattened. 

"The  action  of  sugar  upon  the  human  system  is  very  similar. 
The  negroes  in  the  sugar  plantations  are  said  to  lose  all  power 
of  reproduction  during  the  sugar  harvest,  and  are  permanently 
influenced,  although  in  a  lesser  degree,  by  the  juice  of  the  cane, 
which  they  are  so  fond  of  chewing;  there  is  also  reason  to 
believe  that  the  negroes  have  become  relatively  more  productive 
with  the  diminished  growth  of  sugar.* 

"Until  my  attention  had  been  drawn  to  this  action  of  sugar 
upon  the  reproductive  powers,  I  was  not  aware  that  its  influence 
had  been  previously  acknowledged ;  but  I  find  that  this  has  been 
observed  by  continental  physiologists,  of  whom  it  will  be  suffi- 
cient to  mention  Moleschott  and  Proreucal. 

"It  would  be  premature  for  me  to  attempt  any  explanation 
of  the  manner  in  which  sugar  exerts  this  powerful  influence 
upon  the  animal  system.  We  shall  probably  find  that  it  has  a 
twofold  action;  it  may  not  only  produce  a  fatty  degeneration  of 

*  This  information  probably  relates  to  the  British  West  India  Islands,  as  we  have 
never  heard  of  any  such  influences  among  the  laborers  of  the  sugar  plantations  of 
the  United  States.— L.  F.  A. 


246  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

the  ovaries  in  the  female,  but  by  the  glandular  excitement  it 
causes,  it  may  also  favor  a  re-absorption  of  the  seminal  fluid  of 
the  male,  and  thereby  the  desire  for  breeding  be  diminished,  if 
not  finally  destroyed.  That  sugar  has  a  powerful  influence  upon 
the  reproductive  powers,  scarcely  admits  of  a  doubt;  but  it  is 
more  important  that  we  should  be  more  fully  acquainted  with 
its  action. 

"We  shall,  however,  find  that  other  agencies  produce  a  some- 
what similar  tendency  to  fatty  degeneration,  if  not  in  the 
ovaries,  at  least  in  the  surrounding  parts,  whereby  the  healthy 
ova  of  females  fail  to  be  fertilized  in  a  natural  manner ;  or  when 
they  have  been  fertilized,  they  are,  from  the  same  cause,  subse- 
quently aborted.  It  is  also  probable,  that  in  some  cases,  in 
which  the  female  possesses  healthy  ovaries,  and  yet,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  defective  powers  of  the  male,  fails  to  breed,  a  very 
unnatural  excitement  takes  place  in  her,  that  induces  an  irrita- 
bility which  is  fatal  to  impregnation.  In  these,  and  similar 
cases,  the  removal  of  the  clitoris  of  the  vulva  (as  spoken  of  by 
Mr.  E.  Bowley,  of  Siddington,  in  Vol.  19  of  this  Society's 
Journal,  page  151,)  would  allay  this  excitement,  and  thereby 
favor  successful  breeding.  This  is,  however,  a  practice  which 
few  would  be  disposed  to  recommend;  and  Mr.  Bowley  rather 
mentions  the  fact  of  the  operation  than  advises  its  adoption. 

"  The  moderate  use  of  salt  is  also  stated  to  have  a  powerful 
effect  upon,  the  breeding  powers  of  animals.  Moleschott  states 
that  the  favorable  effect  of  common  salt  upon  the  formation  of 
blood,  and  upon  nutrition,  also  produces  an  influence  upon  sexual 
life.  Boussingault  found  that  bulls,  which  in  their  food  receive  a 
large  addition  of  common  salt,  show  a  greater  inclination  to 
cover;  and  Ronlin  states  that  the  females  of  our  domestic  ani- 
mals, are  rendered  less  productive  by  want  of  salt. 

"No  evidence  as  to  this  action  of  salt,  has  come  under  my 
own  observation,  still  I  think  it  probable  that  we  shall  find  the 


TREATMENT  OP  BREEDING  COWS.  247 

more  general  use  of  salt  very  important  and  beneficial  in  its 
action  upon  breeding  stock.  When  salt  is  used  for  any  animal 
producing  milk,  care  must  be  exercised  not  to  allow  it  to  be 
taken  in  such  quantity  as  to  check  the  production  of  milk;  for 
a  free  supply  would  speedily  stop  this  secretion. 

"The  general  system  of  diet  must  also  be  looked  upon,  as 
taking  its  share  in  influencing  the  reproductive  functions.  When 
the  fall  of  rain  has  been  small,  and  the  herbage  more  than 
usually  parched,  we  find  unusual  difficulty  in  getting  ordinary 
farm  stock  to  breed.  A  dry  dietary  is  very  unfavorable  for 
breeding  animals,  and  very  much  retards  successful  impregnation. 
On  the  other  hand,  rich,  juicy  and  succulent  vegetation,  is  very 
generally  favorable  to  breeding.  Apart,  therefore,  from  the 
direct  influence  of  the  food  given,  it  is  certain  that  the  condition 
in  which  it  is  consumed,  materially  influences  the  breeding  powers 
of  stock. 

"Little  is  as  yet  definitely  known  as  to  the  comparative  influ- 
ence of  different  kinds  of  food  upon  breeding  animals ;  but  the 
information  we  possess,  leads  us  to  desire  further  evidence. 

"We  know  that  the  healthy  semen  of  male  animals,  with  few 
(if  any)  exceptions,  contains  a  large  proportion  of  albuminous 
matter,  in  the  form  of  vitellin  and  albuminate  of  soda;  and  it 
follows,  as  a  natural  consequence,  that  unless  these  bodies  are 
present  in  the  food,  although  they  may  for  a  time  be  supplied  by 
exhausting  the  animal  system,  still,  his  career  cannot  long  be 
maintained  without  prejudice  to  the  animal,  and  disappointment 
to  the  breeder. 

"The  presence  of  phosphorus  is  also  essential;  and  it  has  been 
observed  that  food  rich  in  phosphorus,  such  as  the  leguminous 
seeds,*  hay,  grass,  corn  fodder,  &c.,  are  especially  valuable  in 
promoting  the  fertility  of  breeding  animals. 

*  Indian  corn,  oil  cake,  and  all  oily  grains  are  "  fatty."  Peas,  oats,  barley,  rye  and 
buckwheat,  are  more  albuminous,  producing  muscle,  and  lean  flesh. — L.  F.  A. 


248  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"It  may  also  be  stated  that  though  a  moderate  supply  of  fatty 
matter  is  desirable  in  the  food,  still,  it  should  be  limited,  so  as  to 
prevent  any  unhealthy  accumulations  of  fat  in  or  about  the 
breeding  organs;  and  it  should  always  be  accompanied  by  food 
rich  in  albuminous  matter. 

"The  influence  of  climate  upon  the  health  of  our  domesticated 
animals,  has  never  received  that  attention  which  it  merits.  I  have 
already  made  some  reference  to  the  effect  of  a  change  of  climate 
upon  the  breeding  powers,  and  I  may  add,  that  the  beneficial 
influence  extends  both  to  male  and  female.  The  results  which 
have  attended  the  importation  of  English  stock,  which  had  been 
exported  to  other  climates,  or  their  immediate  descendants,  show 
that  considerable  advantage  is  often  realized  in  this  manner,  and 
the  practice  is  probably  capable  of  extension.  It  is,  however, 
well  worthy  of  an  inquiry,  whether  we  do  not  possess  in  our 
country  sufficient  variation  of  climate  and  district,  to  accomplish 
the  desired  results  at  less  cost.  There  is  undoubted  evidence 
to  show  that  we  may  thus  engraft  upon  our  stock  greater  consti- 
tutional strength. 

"The  formation  of  milk  is  intimately  connected  with  the  repro- 
ductive powers.  The  secretion  of  milk  is  dependent  upon  the 
activity  of  the  mammary  glands;  and  these  are  either  under  the 
direct  influence  of  the  breeding  organs,  or  else  they  sympathize 
very  closely  with  them.  Those  animals  which  breed  with  the 
least  difficulty,  yield  the  best  supplies  of  milk,  and  produce  the 
most  healthy  and  vigorous  offspring.  Now,  it  must  be  admitted, 
that  however  much  we  have  improved  the  symmetry  and  feeding 
power  of  stock,  we  have  suffered  them  to  deteriorate  in  value  as 
breeding  animals,  by  the  decrease  of  their  milking  capabilities. 
In  proportion  as  we  adopt  a  more  natural  system  of  manage- 
ment, for  the  purpose  of  keeping  stock  in  a  healthy  and  vigorous 
breeding  condition,  so  shall  we  reap  the  indirect  benefit  of  a 
better  supply  of  milk.  It  is  true,  that  a  deficiency  in  the  yield 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  249 

of  milk  may  be  met  by  other  resources,  but  since  a  short  supply 
of  milk  is  indicative  of,  and  associated  with,  enfeebled  breeding 
powers,  every  care  should  be  taken  to  obviate  this  defect. 

"There  are  few  subjects  connected  with  agricultural  literature, 
which  offer  such  a  scope  for  inquiry  and  research,  as  that  which 
I  have  now  discussed;  for  whether  we  look  upon  the  repro- 
ductive powers  of  domesticated  animals,  from  a  practical  point 
of  view,  or  a  scientific  inquiry,  we  have  very  strong  inducements 
to  investigate  the  subject  more  completely.  The  very  circum- 
stances under  which  barrenness  can  be  produced  or  removed; 
the  influence  of  various  kinds  of  food  upon  the  breeding  capa- 
bilities, and  also  upon  the  production  of  milk;  the  circumstances 
which  favor  or  check  abortion;  the  conditions  which  regulate 
the  sex  of  the  offspring — these,  and  many  kindred  subjects, 
demand  careful  consideration." 

In  corroboration  of  the  foregoing  remarks  on  the  effect  of 
sweet  foods  inducing  barrenness  in  breeding  animals,  we  give  a 
note  from  Mr.  E.  "W.  Stewart,  on  the  subject.  It  is  proper  to 
say,  that  at  the  time  of  his  writing  it,  Mr.  S.  had  not  seen  the 
paper  of  Professor  Tanner. 

"My  attention  has  lately  been  particularly  turned  to  the  chem- 
ical qualities  of  foods,  and  to  determining  how  a  practical  appli- 
cation may  be  made,  to  the  feeding  of  animals. 

"I  find  there  has  been  much  chemical  research  which  has 
never  been  applied.  Some  three  years  ago,  while  my  Sorghum 
cane  was  being  manufactured  into  syrup,  the  skimmings  were 
given  to  the  cows,  and  drank  with  great  relish.  One  cow  was 
so  greedy  for  the  sweet  scum,  and  indulged  to  such  an  extent, 
that  she  was  barren  for  a  year.  I  have  seen  since,  a  number  of 
cases  mentioned,  where  the  breeding  qualities  of  animals  have 
been  injured  or  destroyed  by  a  free  use  of  sweet — the  females 
barren  and  the  males  impotent — but  no  explanation  of  the  phe- 
nomena. It  occurred  to  me  that  chemistry  should  furnish  the 
11* 


250  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

explanation,  and  I  was  confident  that  some  author  must  have 
discussed  the  point,  but  I  could  find  no  direct  allusion  to  it. 
Still,  there  are  abundant  facts  from  which  to  draw  a  conclusion. 
All  the  animal  tissues  contain,  as  an  essential  element,  nitrogen. 
Sugar,  fat,  starch  and  water,  are  non-nitrogenized  components  of 
the  animal  body,  but  are  not  organized  or  living  substances. 

"It  is  only  the  muscular  and  nervous  systems  that  have  sen- 
sation. The  semen  of  male,  and  the  ova  of  female  animals,  are 
albuminous  or  nitrogenous  fluids,  containing,  besides  soda  and 
phosphate  of  lime,  all  the  essential  elements  of  the  young  ani- 
mal. It  is  held,  by  some  of  the  greatest  animal  chemists,  that 
'nitrogenized  foods  alone  nourish  the  tissues.'  It  is  not  difficult, 
then,  from  these  premises,  to  infer  the  reason  that  too  carbona- 
do us  food,  such  as  sugar,  should,  when  fed  in  large  quantities, 
render  the  female  animal  barren,  and  the  male  impotent.  And 
yet  chemists  have  not  applied  these  facts.  It  will  readily  be 
seen,  to  what  an  important  account  this  may  be  turned  by  the 
breeder  of  animals.  In  raising  heifers  and  bulls,  for  instance, 
how  important  it  is  to  give  them  a  thorough  muscular  develop- 
ment; and  to  this  end,  glutinous  or  albuminous  food  should  be 
given.  There  has,  in  fact,  been  very  little  intelligent  feeding 
with  cattle  breeders.  They  have  fed  what  was  most  convenient, 
without  tasking  their  brains  with  the  question  of  food  elements, 
and  how  best  to  combine  them." 

FEEDING  IN  ADVANCED  STAGES  OF  PREGNANCY. 

As  the  cow  approaches  maternity,  she  should  be  well  kept.  If 
the  climate  demands  it,  she  should  have  good  shelter,  and  warm 
beds.  If  she  has  become  reduced  by  scant  feed,  or  profuse  milk- 
ing, she  should  have  additional  feed  while  running  dry,  in  order 
to  promote  the  growth  of  the  foetus  within  hor,  and  prepare  her 
better  for  the  labor  of  parturition,  as  well  as  the  sustenance 
of  the  coming  calf,  and  a  good  flow  of  milk  afterwards.  No 


TREATMENT  OF  BREEDING  COWS.  251 

cow.  should  give  milk  from  the  birth  of  one  calf  to  that  of 
another.  It  is  too  heavy  a  draft  on  her  physical  powers,  and  a 
period  of  six  weeks  to  three  months'  rest  from  milking  is  neces- 
sary, when  the  breeding  of  choice  animals  is  an  object.  Some 
cows,  we  know,  will  yield  their  milk  naturally  from  the  birth  of 
one  calf  to  that  of  another,  but  it  wears  on  them,  and  an  abund- 
ance of  the  best  food  is  necessary  to  keep  them  up  through  so 
exhausting  a  process. 

A  cow  cannot  well  perform  two  such  important  duties  at  a 
time,  as  to  give  a  profitable  yield  of  milk,  and  mature,  in  the  last 
stages  of  growth,  a  healthy,  well  developed  foetus.  The  milk 
must  be  drawn  at  the  expense  of  the  coming  calf.  When  the 
calf  is  of  no  importance,  and  milk  the  only  thing  wanted  in  the 
cow,  her  flow  of  it  may  be  continued,  by  stimulating  food,  up  to 
six  weeks,  or  even  a  shorter  time,  of  her  period  of  bringing  forth, 
but  in  any  event,  some  time  should  be  allowed  her  for  rest.  As 
the  birth  of  the  calf  approaches,  she  should  be  kept  quiet,  have 
gentle  exercise,  and  be  carefully  looked  after  daily.  Her  udder, 
for  a  few  days  in  advance,  should  be  watched  and  examined, 
that  it  be  not  "caked"  or  inflamed,  or  secrete  more  milk  than 
may  be  retained  in  a  healthy  condition.  Some  young  cows  or 
heifers  secrete  milk  in  such  quantity,  in  advance,  that  it  is  neces- 
sary to  draw  it  from  them  for  some  days  before  calving,  to 
prevent  the  udder  from  spoiling  by  inflammation.  When  parturi- 
tion is  immediately  expected,  she  should,  according  to  the  season, 
be  confined  in  a  loose  box  stall  in  the  stable,  or  under  a  shed,  or 
in  a  small  outside  enclosure,  where  she  may  be  readily  seen  and 
attended  to  in  case  of  accident  or  difficulty,  as  such  are  liable  to 
occur  frequently  with  heifers  in  their  first  calf,  and  sometimes 
afterwards.  The  chances  of  difficulty  are  certainly  worth  the 
little  extra  attention  required.  The  immediate  duties  attending 
parturition  will  be  hereafter  noticed  under  the  proper  head. 
That  process  once  completed,  the  udder  should  be  thoroughly 


252  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

drawn  by  the  calf,  and  completed  to  perfect  emptiness  by  the 
hand  of  the  attendant. 

It  is  of  the  first  importance  in  the  rearing  of  good  stock,  that 
the  cow  be  always  kept  in  good  condition — not  pampered,  and 
fat,  on  stimulating  food,  but  in  fair  "working"  order,  on  the 
simple  and  nutritious  food  natural  to  her.  A  poor,  half-starved 
cow  must,  of  necessity,  be  scrimped  in  her  proportions.  Live 
herself,  she  must,  and  as  the  growing  foetus  within  her  must 
live  also,  and  grow,  its  proportions  will  be  more  or  less  circum- 
scribed, and  perhaps  in  its  most  valuable  points.  So,  also,  over- 
feeding, and  excessive  fatness  may  have  the  same  effect  on  the 
foetus.  The  filling  of  her  viscera  with  masses  of  fat,  will  crowd 
the  fcetus  into  too  small  compass  for  proper  expansion,  and  be  as 
fatal  to  the  development  of  its  proportions,  as  the  want  of  full 
subsistence  in  that  of  the  starved  cow,  besides  subjecting  her  to 
difficulty  in  parturition,  puerperal  fevers,  inflammation,  or  other 
risks  not  common  to  cows  in  simply  good  flesh.  We  have 
seldom  known  young  stock  improved  when  the  cows  were  in 
very  low,  nor  when  in  very  high  condition.  Cows  should  be 
well  fed,  and  attended  throughout  the  year,  with  all  the  nutri- 
tious, palatable  food  they  need,  or  will  take,  and  under  such 
treatment  only,  will  their  produce  be  superior  to  themselves,  or 
even,  perhaps,  as  good.  Their  food  may  be  more  abundant,  and 
stimulating,  according  to  the  quantities  of  milk  they  may  yield 
while  pregnant;  and  if  good  milkers,  and  their  expected  produce 
are  intended  for  milkers,  such  milk-producing  food  should  be 
given  to  perpetuate  that  faculty  in  the  young.  A  watchful  eye, 
and  a  steady  hand,  are  indispensable  in  breeding  good  stock  of 
any  kind. 

DURATION   OF   PREGNANCY. 

The  time  of  pregnancy  in  the  cow  is  not  always  uniform. 
Nine  months  is  tho  commonly  estimated  time.  It  almost  always 
runs  so  long,  but  usually  longer — sometimes  even  to  ten  months. 


TREATMENT  OP  BREEDING  COWS.  253 

Two  hundred  and  eighty  days  is  given  by  some  writers  as  the 
average  time;  others  state  it  at  two  hundred  and  eighty- four. 
We,  one  year,  kept  an  accurate  account,  on  our  own  farm,  of 
upwards  of  fifty  cows,  consisting  of  thorough  bred  Short-horns, 
Herefords,  Devons,  and  their  grades,  and  common  ones.  "We 
found  no  average  difference  in  the  time  of  one  kind  from  another, 
and  in  casting  up,  and  averaging  the  time  of  them  all,  we  found 
it  to  range  from  two  hundred  and  sixty-eight  to  two  hundred 
and  ninety-one — the  average  being  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
four  days. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

BREEDING    GRADE    CATTLE    FOR    GRAZING. 

IN  breeding  cattle  for  grazing,  and  the  shambles,  early  maturity, 
rapidity  of  taking  on  flesh,  and  the  distribution  of  it  on  the  best 
parts  of  the  carcass,  are  the  main  objects  for  profit  and  quick 
returns.  In  selecting  the  breed  to  be  adopted,  the  same  rules  in 
relation  to  climate,  and  the  land  they  are  to  occupy,  are  to  be 
observed  as  with  dairy  cows.  The  foundation  of  the  herd,  in 
cows,  should  be  of  those,  whether  of  common,  or  more  or  less  of 
any  improved  blood,  which  combine  flesh-producing  qualities  in 
as  high  degree  as  possible.  The  quantity  of  milk  they  will 
yield  is  of  less  importance.  Almost  any  cow  will  give  milk 
enough  to  rear  a  calf  well  to  six  or  eight  months  old,  and  if  in 
a  locality  where  milk  is  of  no  particular  value,  that  time  is 
enough  for  her  to  yield  it. 

The  bull  selected  to  breed  from,  should,  if  possible  to  obtain 
such,  be  pure  in  blood,  of  whatever  breed  may  be  adopted.  He 
should  be  masculine  in  appearance,  strong,  and  vigorous,  but  not 
coarse.  He  should  be  fine  in  bone,  his  skin,  and  the  flesh  under 
it,  elastic  to  the  touch,  with  good,  thick,  woolly  hair ;  no  particular 
matter  about  the  color,  so  that  the  color  be  true  to  his  breed. 
His  flesh  should  be  well  laid  on  in  the  best  parts  for  beef,  and 
combining  as  nearly  the  points  of  a  model  Devon,  or  Short-horn 
in  that  particular,  as  his  breed,  if  of  another  kind,  will  permit. 

Abundance  of  good  food,  water,  shelter,  and  care,  the  young 
should  always  have,  and  the  cows  and  bulls  should  always  be 
kept  in  good  condition — not  pampered — that  the  young  do  not 


BREEDING  vGRADE    CATTLE    FOR    GRAZING.  255 

suffer  from  the  misfortune  of  their  parents  in  such  particular;  for 
any  young  beast  to  carry  flesh  well,  and  increase  it  rapidly, 
should  have  the  propensity  to  do  so  bred  into  them  from  the 
womb.  A  poor  half-starved  cow  cannot  produce  any  but  a  lean 
calf.  "What  is  bred  in  the  bone  stays  long  in  the  flesh,"  is  an 
old  and  true  adage.  A  bull,  perfect  in  the  points  of  his  breed, 
is  as  superior  to  a  deficient  one,  used  even  on  common,  or  grade 
cows,  to  a  certain  extent,  as  to  breed  on  thorough  breds;  and  an 
inferior  one  should  not  be  used  at  all; — better  pay  a  round  price 
for  a  good  bull,  than  take  a  poor  one  as  a  gift. 

The  age  at  which  heifers  should  be  bred,  must  depend  some- 
what on  circumstances.  For  grazing  cattle,  two  years  old  is 
'early  enough  to  put  heifers  to  the  bull.  They  should  acquire 
somewhat  of  maturity,  and  fair  size,  to  produce  good  graziers; 
and  that  general  remark  will  suffice. 

BREEDING    DAIRY    COWS. 

If  the  breeder  intends  to  rear  dairy  cows,  he  will  select  as 
good  milkers,  with  which  to  commence  his  herd,  as  he  can  find, 
whatever  their  condition,  or  blood  may  be,  and  they  should  be 
descendants  of  good  milkers  also,  if  he  can  ascertain  the  fact. 
Then  he  must  select  a  bull  from  a  tribe  of  good  milkers  in  his 
own  breed.  The  descriptions  we  have  given  of  the  dairy  quali- 
ties of  the  different  breeds,  and  his  own  good  judgment,  must 
guide  the  breeder  in  that  particular.  The  bull  chosen  should 
bear,  in  himself,  the  dairy  marks  or  points — for  they  show  in  the 
bull  as  well  as  in  the  cow — and  he  should  be  descended,  on  the 
side  of  both  his  dapa  and  sire,  if  possible,  of  good  milking  ances- 
tors. His  head  should  be  small,  his  fore  parts  lighter,  in  propor- 
tion, than  his  hind  parts,  as  in  the  cow ;  yet  he  should  be  vigorous, 
of  sound  constitution,  and  well  formed  throughout.  Examine  his 
scrotum  and  see  that  the  embryo  teats  on  the  sides  of  it  are  well, 
squarely,  and  uniformly  placed;  that  his  twist  (space  between 


256  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

the  thighs,)  is  wide,  with  yellowish  skin,  and  soft  to  the  touch, 
and  it  may  be  reasonably  assured  that  such  a  bull,  with  well 
selected  cows  of  the  common  or  grade  varieties,  will  produce 
good  milkers.  Then  one  has  only  to  proceed,  adhering  to  these 
rules,  and  breed  on.  Every  young  cow  which  does  not  prove  a 
good  milker,  should  be  turned  off  for  fattening,  and  her  heifer 
calf  to  the  butcher.  The  heifer  calves  of  the  good  milkers 
only  should  be  reared.  The  milking  faculty  will  then  become 
well  established  in  the  herd,  and  by  the  persistent  use  of  such 
bulls  as  we  have  described,  although  the  cows  are  but  grades, 
all  the  substantial  advantages  of  the  pure  blood,  on  the  side  of 
the  bull,  will  virtually  be  obtained. 

"We  have  seen  in  the  history  of  the  Ayrshire  cow,  in  previous 
pages,  how  an  inferior  race  of  cattle,  by  the  long  and  persistent 
use  of  well  bred  bulls,  of  choice  blood,  have  been  elevated  into  an 
established  milking  "breed."  That  process  was  a  simple  one, 
and  easy  to  follow;  it  can  be  followed  with  any  kind  of  cattle 
which  it  is  desirable  to  improve,  provided  the  L/st  improving 
blood  is  adhered  to,  until  it  stamps  its  individual  character  ou 
the  baser  blood  with  which  it  was  first  crossed. 

Now,  at  this  point  of  successful  attainment,  is  the  very  place 
where  the  breeder  will  be  apt  to  fail  in  further  progress,  and  lose 
a  portion  of  the  advantages  which  he  has  been  at  so  much 
expense  of  time  and  cost,  in  his  pure  bred  and  well  selected  bulls, 
to  attain.  He  may  think  his  cows  "good  enough;"  that  his 
tribe  of  milkers  is  established,  and  he  need  go  no  further.  "A 
pure  bred  bull  is  expensive,  and  I  cannot  afford  to  expend  so 
much  money  to  keep  on  in  the  same  way.  I'll  now  get,  or  raise 
a  grade  bull  of  this  good  milking  stock."  But  let  it  be  under- 
stood that  this  grade  bull  has  got  bad  blood  in  him.  Away  back 
in  the  generations  on  the  "common"  side  of  his  ancestry,  a 
worthless  brute  has  occurred,  either  in  the  male  or  female  line, 
and  that  very  bad  blood  may  crop  out  in  a  large  majority  of  the 


BREEDING   DAIRY    COWS.  257 

calves  lie  may  get,  as  the  cows  which  he  is  to  serve  have,  through 
their  "common"  ancestry,  a  share  of  bad  blood  also.  If  it  be 
said  there  is  no  probability  of  that,  the  answer  is,  there  is  a 
possibility,  and  that  risk  should  be  avoided.  The  inevitable 
tendency  of  interbreeding  grades  with  each  other,  is  to  throw  out 
all  sorts  of  intermixtures  of  the  ancestral  blood,  and  all  improve- 
ment in  the  herd  there  stops — it  retrogrades,  even,  from  the  very 
time  the  grade  bull  is  adopted.  It  may  be  said  "the  Ayrshires 
were  so  made."  True,  but  it  took  a  hundred  years  so  to  make 
them  into  an  established  breed,  and  they  are  still  kept  up  with 
the  most  painstaking  care  and  selection;  and  no  three,  or  four, 
or  half  a  dozen  crosses  of  the  best  pure  blood  of  any  breed,  on 
our  native  cows,  can  be  trusted  to  perpetuate,  within  themselves 
only,  their  qualities  so  recently  and  artificially  bred  up.  Aside 
from  this,  the  ultimate  destination  of  the  dairy  cow  is  the  sham- 
bles ;  and  as  a  good  one,  if  of  an  improved  breed,  will,  in  almost 
every  instance,  when  done  for  the  pail,  feed  well,  a  risk  of  making 
the  most  of  her  in  that  particular,  when  at  so  trifling  a  cost  as 
the  keeping  a  pure  bred  bull,  should  not  be  ventured.  No; 
keep  on  with  the  thorough  bred  bull.  If  obtained  at  two  years, 
he  will  last  till  he  is  six,  eight,  or  ten  years  old,  breeding  him 
to  his  own  daughters,  and  even  granddaughters,  before  he  is 
discarded.  If  "blood"  in  an  animal  is  good  for  anything,  that 
blood  should  be  concentrated  in  his  descendants — fixed  so  as  to 
be  retained  in  his  stock,  where  it  will  exercise  its  full  power  and 
faculty  in  reproduction.  It  is  quite  as  necessary  in  the  grade  as 
in  the  thorough  bred.  There  is  no  danger  in  in-and-in  breeding 
from  such  wide  affinities  in  the  first  parents,  for  two  or  three 
generations. 

DO  NOT  CHANGE  THE  BREED. 

It  is  presumed  that  the  breeder  of  dairy  cows  has  selected  for 
his  use,  that  race  which,  on  a  deliberate  examination  of  his  soil, 
climate,  and  locality,  is  the  best  adapted  for  his  purposes.  If,  on 


258  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

full  trial,  he  is  not  disappointed  in  his  selection,  that  breed  should 
not  be  changed,  unless  under  the  sure  conviction  that  he  can 
make  a  change  for  the  better.  The  labor  and  experience  of 
years,  when  successful,  no  thriving  man  can  afford  to  throw 
away  on  a  mere  impulse,  or  venture;  and  only  on  a  certainty 
that  a  change  will  be  advantageous  to  his  interests.  If  he  be  a 
dairyman  himself,  and  a  good  one,  he  has  probably  established  a 
character  and  reputation  for  his  butter  or  cheese,  which  might  be 
lessened  either  in  price  or  quality  by  a  change.  If  he  breeds 
milk  cows  for  sale,  he  has  also  acquired  a  reputation  for  them, 
which  it  is  worth  while  to  retain. 

When  a  fresh  bull  becomes  necessary,  he  should  combine  the 
same  good  qualities  which  have  been  cultivated  in  the  herd,  so 
as  to  continue  the  uniformity  of  character  already  established  in 
it.  The  breeder  should  carefully  look  over  the  various  points  of 
his  cows;  see  where  they  are  deficient,  and  obtain  his  bull  as 
perfect  as  possible  in  his  own  points,  when  a  deficiency  exists 
in  his  cows,  that  in  their  future  produce  by  him,  those  faults  may 
be  corrected.  The  same  rules  in  breeding  grade  animals  to  as 
near  perfection  as  possible,  are  to  be  observed,  as  in  breeding 
thorough  breds.  Recollect  nature's  unerring  law  is,  "Like  pro- 
duces like;"  and  as  the  bull  is  to  stamp  his  impress  on  the 
produce  of  many  cows,  it  is  necessary  that  he  combine  all  the 
good  qualities  possible  to  be  concentrated  in  him.  Nor,  when 
he  possesses  extraordinary  good  qualities,  should  a  moderately 
high  price  in  his  purchase,  over  an  ordinary  one,  be  objected  to. 
Pay  the  advanced  price  cheerfully,  for  it  will  be  repaid  ten-fold 
in  his  produce,  perhaps  the  first  year  of  his  use.  Good-looking 
animals  of  any  kind  will  always  sell  for  more  than  those  of 
ordinary  appearance.  It  costs  no  more  to  raise  them  than  ugly 
ones,  and  as  a  rule,  the  more  perfect  the  proportions  of  the 
animal,  the  less  food  it  requires  for  subsistence. 


DO    NOT    CHANGE    THE   BREED.  259 

AVe  say,  do  not  change  the  breed,  when  it  is  once  settled  that 
your  breed  is  the  proper  one  for  your  purposes.  Some  men  have 
an  irresistible  penchant  for  crossing  different  breeds  on  each 
other,  in  grade  stock — as  a  Devon  bull  on  grade  Ayrshires;  then 
a  Short-horn,  afterward  on  Alderney,  and  so  on.  Nothing  but 
utter  disorder,  uncertainty  and  disappointment,  can  be  the  result 
of  such  repeated  bastardy.  No  truth  in  blood  can  descend  from 
such  mixtures,  and  no  economical  benefit  can  arise  from  them. 
Neither  flesh  nor  milk  can  be  promoted,  for  what  is  gained  by 
one  cross  may  be  lost  in  the  next. 

Any  one  proposing,  or  expecting  to  breed  good  cattle  at  all, 
must  have  a  definite  object  in  view  at  the  commencement,  with 
whatever  breed  he  uses,  and  it  will  be  only  by  a  persistent  course 
of  breeding  up  in  the  blood,  that  he  can  expect  to  succeed.  For 
the  dairy,  select  a  good  dairy  breed,  and  persist  in  it.  For  beef, 
take  the  breed  of  a  kind  fitted  for  the  soil  and  climate,  and  so 
keep  on.  A  purchaser  will  always  pay  more  for  a  uniform  lot 
of  steers  or  bullocks,  than  for  a  mixed  one  of  all  sorts  of  char- 
acter, even  if  equally  good  in  the  individual  animals  themselves. 
And  so  with  the  purchasing  dairyman.  He  wants  his  cows 
alike,  if  good.  The  upshot  is,  that  with  a  parcel  of  mixed 
crosses  of  no  definite  character,  they  range  but  little  above 
common  stock,  and  always  to  the  disadvantage  of  the  breeder. 
Therefore,  we  again  say,  keep  your  stock  as  uniform  in  blood 
and  appearance  as  possible. 

AGE  AT  WHICH  HEIFEBS,  FOR    THE  DAIRY,  SHOULD  BE  BRED. 

This  will  depend  much  on  the  manner  in  which  they  have 
been  fed  from  calf  hood,  and  the  condition  of  flesh  that  they  may 
be  in.  If  they  have  been  fed  on  good  muscle-making  food, 
with  growth  unstinted,  they  may  safely  be  coupled  with  the  bull 
at  fifteen,  to  eighteen  months  of  age ;  and  if  possible,  to  a  small, 
rather  than  to  a  large  bull,  thus,  in  probability,  producing  a 


260  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

smaller  foetus,  and  calf,  than  if  bred  to  a  large  one,  and  drawing 
less  on  the  foetal  nourishment  which  the  heifer  is  obliged  to 
furnish. 

The  advantages  of  breeding  thus  early  are: 

1st.  The  milking  faculties  of  the  growing  heifers  are  more 
easily  stimulated  into  action  than  if  neglected  to  twenty-seven 
months,  or  later,  (bringing  her  calf  at  three  years  of  age,)  and 
thus  apt  to  prove  a  better  milker. 

2d.  She  is  inclined  to  be  more  docile,  and  easier  handled,  and 
managed. 

3d.  She  arrives  at  her  maturity  of  production  for  dairy  pur- 
poses o  year  earlier;  and 

4th.     A  year  is  gained  in  her  profit. 

These  are  decided  advantages.  Objections  may  be  made  that 
the  strain  from  such  early  maturity  may  weaken  her  system  and 
constitution,  and  lessen  her  value  in  after  life.  This  may  be  so 
when  she  has  been  stinted  in  food,  and  stunted  in  growth,  but  the 
objection  has  little  weight  when  a  thrifty  and  healthy  growth 
has  been  given  her.  One  of  the  finest  thorough  bred  Short- 
horn cows  we  ever  owned,  brought  her  first  calf  at  sixteen 
months  old.  We  have  had  them,  Devons,  Herefords,  Short- 
horns, and  common  heifers,  frequently  calve  at  two  years,  and 
they  grew  to  be  among  the  best  cows  of  their  several  kinds. 
It  has  been  our  habit  for  many  years — and  we  still  practice  it — 
for  dairy  purposes,  to  breed  our  heifers  at  fifteen  to  seventeen 
months,  so  as  to  cast  their  first  calves  at  two  years  to  twenty-six 
months  of  age;  and  we  have  found  a  decided  advantage  in  it. 
They  come  in  fine,  thrifty  young  cows,  in  good  condition,  and 
prove  excellent  milkers,  lasting  as  many  years  as  if  bred  a 
season  later.  We  have  seen  it  practiced  by  others,  and  the  great 
majority  of  evidence,  under  the  circumstances  we  have  named, 
is  in  favor  of  thus  bringing  them  to  early  maturity,  and  conse- 
quent profit. 


BREEDING    HEIFERS    FOR    THE    DAIRY.  261 

The  only  drawback  to  this  early  breeding  may  be,  and  it  prob- 
ably is  the  fact,  that  the  first  calf  may  not  be  so  good  for  rearing 
as  when  the  dam  is  at  a  maturer  age;  but  the  second  calf  will 
be  equally  as  good  as  at  any  later  age.  The  first  calf  of  a  dairy 
cow,  may  thus  be  profitably  sacrificed,  if  it  prove  a  weak  one,  to 
the  increased  profit  of  the  cow  herself.  Yet,  the  first  calf  may 
not  always  be  thus  weakly  or  inferior.  The  calf  before  men- 
tioned, of  the  sixteen  months  heifer — begotten  accidentally,  by  a 
scrub  highway  bull  breaking  into  the  pasture,  where  she  was 
running  with  her  dam — being  a  female,  was  bred  at  two  years 
old,  and  proved  one  of  the  best  in  quite  a  herd  of  dairy  cows, 
which  we  for  several  years  kept.  In  view,  therefore,  of  all 
circumstances — the  condition  of  good  keep,  and  thrifty  growth 
being  attached — we  recommend,  decidedly,  to  let  heifers  bring 
their  first  calves  at  two  years  old. 

Nor  have  we,  in  our  practice,  given  extra  food  to  these  heifers. 
They  were  reared  either  by  hand,  as  we  have  recommended  in 
feeding  stock  calves,  or  with  a  part  of  the  mother's  milk  only, 
until  four  months  old,  with  the  addition  of  plenty  of  good  grass 
and  hay  in  their  proper  seasons,  and  never  fed  with  a  morsel  of 
grain,  or  meal,  or  roots,  although  they  might  possibly  have  been 
the  better  for  it.  But  they  had  enough  of  what  they  did  eat,  and 
good  care  always,  with  warm  shelter  in  the  inclement  seasons. 

We  admit  that  heifers  thus  early  bred,  do  not  attain  their  full 
growth  so  soon  as  if  left  to  three  years,  before  they  bring  their  first 
calf.  But  good  keep  will  carry  them  to  it  in  a  year  or  two,  and 
at  four  or  five  years,  little,  if  any,  difference  in  size  wilfne  found 
between  them. 

Let  us  be  distinctly  understood.  "We  only  commend  such  early 
breeding  to  good,  painstaking  farmers  and  dairymen.  Those 
who  neglect,  starve,  and  bang  about  their  cattle,  exposing  them 
to  all  kinds  of  hardship,  should  never  breed  their  heifers  until 
three,  possibly  four  years  of  age,  and  thus  incur  the  penalty, 


262  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

sure  to  follow,  in  their  neglect,  of  losing  one  or  two  years'  use 
of  their  cows,  and  the  insubordination  sure  to  follow  their  own 
mismanagement,  and  want  of  good  husbandry.  There  are  cir- 
cumstances, however,  in  the  locality,  and  other  conditions  of 
even  the  -good  farmer  and  dairyman,  when  it  may  be  policy  to 
keep  their  heifers  to  three  years,  before  bringing  their  first 
calves,  and  those  we  leave  to  their  own  proper  judgment.  It  is, 
however,  both  possible,  and  profitable,  to  make  the  best  of  dairy 
cows  from  heifers  casting  their  first  calves  at  two  years  old. 

REARING    AND    TREATMENT    OF    BULLS. 

A  bull  intended  for  getting  thorough  bred,  or  grade  stock, 
should  be  well  fed  from  his  birth,  whether  he  be  nursed  at  the 
udder,  or  the  pail.  There  is  no  necessity  for  forcing  his  growth 
— he  is  rather  the  worse  for  it.  His  growth  should  be  steady, 
and  made  on  milk,  a  little  oat,  pea,  or  barley  meal,  and  grass  or 
hay,  according  to  the  season,  for  five  or  six  months.  If  he  be 
only  intended  for  breeding  grade,  or  stock  cattle,  six  months  on 
milk  will  answer;  if  for  breeding  thorough  breds,  seven,  or  even 
eight  months  is  better.  After  weaning,  his  food  should  be  sue 
culent  and  nourishing,  not  rich.  We  are  aware  that  in  thorough 
breeding,  it  is  the  disposition  of  many  breeders  to  feed  inordi- 
nately high,  so  as  to  make  "  show  "  calves  of  their  young  bulls. 
But  the  practice  is  not  a  good  one  for  the  future  bull.  lie 
arrives  at  earlier  maturity,  it  is  true,  but  at  the  expense  of  last- 
ing usefulness.  A  calf  may  be  so  forced  as  to  make  the  size  in 
one  year,  that  he  would  make  in  eighteen  months  of  moderate, 
yet  good  keeping;  but  it  is  to  his  future  disadvantage,  and  quite 
unnecessary,  as  he  should  not  be  used,  other  than  very  sparingly 
— better  not  at  all — at  a  less  age  than  two  years. 

He  should  be  tied  up  when  but  a  day  or  two  old,  and  as  soon 
after,  as  convenient,  learned  to  lead.  He  should  also  be  learned 
to  eat  herbage  as  soon  as  he  will  take  to  it,  say  at  a  month,  or 


BEARING    AND    TREATMENT    OF    BULLS.  263 

six  weeks.  A  strap  head  halter  is  the  best  fastening  for  him. 
At  nine  months,  a  ring  should  be  put  in  his  nose,  and  the  way 
to  do  it  is  this:  The  ring  should  be  of  copper — steel,  or  iron 
will  answer,  but  it  corrodes  more  than  copper.  It  should  be  two 
and  one-half  inches  diameter  inside.  It  should  have  a  joint  in 
its  circle,  about  two  inches  in  length,  and  when  in  place,  fastened 
with  a  small  screw,  or  rivet.  When  ready  to  insert,  put  a 
strong  rope  around  the  horns,  and  draw  the  head  of  the  bull 
close  to  a  post,  by  this  halter,  that  he  may  not  throw  it  about ; 
then  seize  his  nose,  and  with  a  small,  sharp  pointed  instrument — 
a  three  cornered  saw  file,  with  the  point  sharpened,  is  the  best — 
run  a  hole  quickly  through  the  thin  cartilige  behind  the  nostril, 
which  is  there  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick;  give 
the  file  a  turn  or  two,  then  put  in  the  ring,  close  it  together, 
either  screw,  or  rivet  it,  and  the  work  is  done.  Little  blood  will 
follow  the  operation,  and  scarce  any  soreness.  In  a  week  when 
the  soreness  is  healed,  the  leading  snap,  or  strap  may  be  put  into 
it,  and  he  can  be  led.  Some  herdsmen  use  only  a  rope,  or  leather 
halter  for  leading  their  bulls,  and  many  of  them  are  so  gentle  as 
to  be  so  trusted;  but  our  own  rule  has  usually  been  to  have  a 
strong  stick,  six  or  seven  feet  long,  with  a  link  or  two  of  chain, 
and  a  snap  hook  at  the  end,  to  hold  him  at  arm's  length  in  case 
he  should  be  too  playful,  or  possibly  vicious.  A  young  bull  may 
be  easily  made  vicious  by  improper  treatment,  and  when  once  he 
becomes  so,  and  knows  his  power,  he  is  hard  to  be  broken  of  it. 
Some  are  so  from  birth,  naturally,  but  more  are  made  vicious  by 
improper  treatment. 

As  bulls  are  treated  when  young,  will  their  usefulness  longer, 
or  shorter,  be  retained.  A  yearling,  as  we  have  observed,  should 
scarcely  ever  be  used,  and  only  on  extraordinary  occasions,  when  a 
calf  of  his  particular  strain  of  blood  is  required,  and  cannot  be 
obtained  by  a  postponement  of  his  services.  At  the  age  of 
two  years,  he  may  serve  fifty  to  a  hundred  cows  during  the 


264  AMERICAN   CATTLE. 

season,  not  exceeding  eight  or  ten  services  a  week.  He  should 
be  kept  stabled,  or  confined  to  a  small  yard  or  paddock,  and  well 
and  regularly  fed,  with  reasonable  daily  exercise,  by  leading  out 
to  walk,  if  stabled.  If  in  a  yard  or  paddock,  he  will  exercise 
himself.  At  three  years  he  may  have  full  service,  a  hundred 
cows  or  more,  without  injury,  and  so  on  until  he  is  a  dozen 
years  old,  if  his  virility  last  so  long,  which  it  will  usually  do,  if 
not  early  overworked.  One  perfect  service  of  the  bull  to  the 
cow  is  as  efficient  as  more.  His  resources  should  not  be  lavishly 
expended. 

Some  men  have  a  strange  notion  that  after  a  bull  arrives  at 
the  age  of  four  or  five  years,  he  should  be  discarded.  It  is  at 
the  age  of  four  or  five  only,  that  the  quality  of  his  stock  can  be 
proved.  A  very  fine  calf  may  turn  out  a  poor  thing  at  two  or 
three  years  old,  and  an  unpromising  calf  may  prove  a  first-rate 
animal  at  the  same  age,  as  we  have  sometimes  found;  therefore 
it  is  only  at  the  age  of  four  or  five  years  that  the  stock  of  the  bull 
can  be  fairly  tested.  If  it  prove  good,  the  longer  he  can  be 
used,  the  better,  provided  his  vigor  and  stamina  be  retained. 
Charles  Ceiling's  celebrated  bull  Favorite,  (252,  English  Herd 
Book,)  was  calved  in  1793.  In  1803,  when  ten  years  old,  he 
got  Comet,  (155,  E.  H.  B.,)  the  famous  1,000  guinea  bull;  and 
the  next  year,  when  eleven  years  old,  he  got  North  Star,  (458, 
E.  H.  B.,)  another  famous  bull,  both  of  them  out  of  his  own 
daughter  from  his  own  mother,  (the  cow  was  both  daughter  and 
sister  to  him,)  and  better  cattle  in  their  day  did  not  exist — 
although  here  was  cattle  incest,  and  breeding  in-and-in  with  a 
vengeance,  such  as  would  astonish  most  of  the  blood  cattle 
breeders  of  the  present  clay  at  such  temerity  I  "Favorite"  was, 
no  doubt,  an  exception  to  the  common  short-horns  of  his  time. 
He  was  a  bull  of  wonderful  stamina  and  vigor,  and  probably 
got  more  good  stock  than  any  bull  of  his  generation.  He  also 
got  the  famous  "Durham  Ox,"  and  "The  white  heifer  that  trav- 


REARING   AND    TREATMENT    OF   BULLS.  265 

elled."  (In  frontispieces,  Vols.  5  and  6,  American  Short-horn 
Herd  Book.)  He  was  useful  ten  years,  beginning  his  service  at 
two  years,  and  during  that  time,  Colling  seldom  used  any  other 
bull  in  his  large  herd  of  thorough  bred  cows.  The  bull  Marske, 
(418,  B.  H.  B.,)  a  famous  animal,  bred  by  Eobert  Colling, 
and  many  years  used  by  him,  died  at  the  age  of  fifteen  years, 
and  was  useful  for  thirteen  years.  These,  and  others  which 
might  be  named,  are  examples  which  our  breeders  of  blood  cattle 
may  well  look  to — provided  they  do  so  with  proper  discrimina- 
tion— and  profit  by  it. 

When  a  bull  evidently  loses  his  vigor,  and  conception  by  him 
becomes  uncertain,  he  should  be  put  aside,  as  his  uncertainty 
may  adhere  to  his  coming  stock — a  fault  always  to  be  avoided. 
We  believe  that  more  bulls  are  spoiled  by  forced  feeding,  and' 
over-service  when  too  young,  than  in  any  other  way ;  and  when 
one  is  possessed  of  a  bull  of  really  choice  blood,  a  careful  hus- 
banding of  his  use  should  be  looked  to  by  his  keeper. 

The  bull  should  always  be  kept  on  substantial,  nutritious  food ; 
never  suffered  to  become  poor,  nor  fat,  but  always  in  good 
working  order.  He  is  a  surer  sire  in  such  condition,  than  when 
pampered  and  over- fed.  When  little,  or  not  at  all  used,  his  food 
may  be  slackened  to  simple  grass,  hay,  or  cut  feed,  with  a  little 
grain  meal  mixed.  When  much  used,  his  food  should  be 
increased,  and  of  better  quality.  Oat  or  barley  meal  produces 
more  muscular  flesh,  and  seminal  and  muscular  vigor,  than  the 
fatty,  sugary  meal  of  corn;  and  muscular  and  seminal  vigor  is 
greatly  serviceable  in  procreation.  Sugar-producing  food,  in 
breeding  animals  of  either  sex,  may  be  hurtful,  as  demonstrated 
in  the  previous  remarks  quoted  from  Professor  Tanner,  and  Mr. 
Stewart,  on  barrenness. 

The  quantities  of  extra  food  to  be  given  to  a  bull  in  th«  season 
of  service  to  cows,  cannot  here  be  particularly  stated.  It  will 
depend  much  on  the  size  of  the  bull,  and  the  extent  of  service 
12 


266  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

required  of  him.  The  observation  of  his  keeper  must  regulate 
the  quantity.  The  feed  should  be  regular,  at  each  meal,  and 
given  three  times  a  day.  No  positive  rules  for  the  hours  of 
feeding  can  be  laid  down,  and  the  discretion  of  those  who  have 
charge  of  the  animal,  must  mainly  govern.  "When  in  service, 
if  confined  in  a  stable,  a  moderate  amount  of  exercise  by  walk- 
ing, should  be  given  him  daily.  It  not  only  adds  to  his  activity, 
but  stimulates  his  virility,  and  better  insures  the  certainty  of  his 
procreation. 

Grooming  with  the  curry  comb,  or  card  and  brush,  and  fre- 
quent washing  with  water,  and  occasionally  the  use  of  soap,  is 
as  necessary  to  a  choice  bull  as  to  a  stallion.  A  clean  skin,  and 
lithe  limbs,  promoting  good  action,  are  a  decided  advantage  to 
-him — not  altogether  for  like  purposes  as  in  the  horse,  to 
show  his  paces.  The  bull  should  have  a  majestic  walk,  and 
be  quick  and  vigorous  in  movement.  So  treated,  his  calves  can- 
not but  be  the  better  for  it.  A  dirty,  dandruffed  bull,  unkempt, 
and  slovenly  in  appearance,  always  shows  to  disadvantage,  and 
any  breeder  having  a  just  pride  in  his  cattle,  will  bestow  equal 
pains  in  keeping  his  bull  in  the  best  condition  of  appearance,  as 
he  who  prides  himself  in  owning  an  "Ethan  Allen,"  or  a  "Lex- 
ington" horse. 


CHAPTER  XXII. . 

REARING    STOCK    CALVES THEIR    TREATMENT. 

THE  method  of  rearing  calves  depends  much  on  the  future 
use  to  be  made  of  them.  On  this  subject,  breeders  and  writers 
hold  different  opinions,  and  each  may  be  correct,  according  to 
circumstances. 

The  best  time  for  calves  to  be  dropped,  which  are  intended  for 
rearing,  is  in  the  spring  of  the  year.  Nature  has  taught  us  that, 
and  all  experience  is  in  its  favor. 

As  observed  in  a  previous  chapter,  the  calf  should,  at  its  first 
meal,  and  as  soon  after  birth  as  inclined,  suck  its  dam.  This  is 
indispensable  to  its  health,  in  enabling  it  to  discharge  the  foetal 
nutriment  remaining  in  its  stomach  and  bowels,  and  give  it 
strength  for  future  action.  Even  when  it  is  intended  to  bring  it 
up  by  hand,  in  feeding  from  the  pail,  three  or  four  meals  from 
the  udder  are  all  the  better,  and  it  will  as  readily  take  the  finger 
for  feeding  then,  as  immediately  after  its  first  meal.  "When  the 
calf  is  of  no  value,  and  milk  only  is  the  object,  two  or  three 
days  are  enough  for  it  to  live,  until  the  milk  be  thoroughly  fit 
for  use.  If  the  cow's  udder  be  diseased  by  inflammation,  or 
otherwise,  it  may  be  necessary  to  retain  the  calf  a  few  days 
longer,  to  draw  the  milk  and  soften  it,  for  no  draft  upon  the  udder 
is  so  natural  and  soothing  as  that  of  the  calf. 

REARING    BY    HAND. 

The  very  first  thing  to  be  done  with  a  calf,  after  he  has  drawn 
his  first  few  meals,  is  to  put  a  rope,  or  strap  around  his  neck, 
and  tie  him  to  a  fastening,  with  three  or  four  feet  play  to  his 


268  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

rope,  to  let  him  know  he  has  a  master.  He  will  not  soon  forget 
it,  if  so  kept  for  a  few  days.  The  rearing  is  done  in  various  ways, 
according  to  the  necessities  of  the  keeper  of  the  cow,  and  the  use 
which  is  to  be  made  of  the  milk.  The  interest  of  the  dairyman 
is  apt  to  give  the  calf  as  little  food  in  new  milk  as  possible ;  but 
for  the  benefit  of  the  calf  it  should  have  undiluted  milk  for  a 
week  or  ten  days,  at  the  shortest.  After  that  time,  the  new 
milk  may  be  slackened,  and  skimmed  milk  added.  Flax  seed, 
boiled  for  hours,  into  a  jelly,  may  be  mixed  with  it,  slightly  at 
first,  and  in  a  few  days,  to  the  extent  of  one-half  this  food  may 
be  given ;  or,  in  its  place,  fine  boiled  Indian,  oat,  or  barley  meal 
gruel,  mixed  with  the  milk,  may  be  substituted. 

But,  the  calf  should  always  have  enough  to  satisfy  its  hunger, 
and  fed  regularly,  as  to  time,  twice  a  day,  at  morning  and  even- 
ing. If  not  at  a  time  to  turn  to  grass,  and  kept  in  a  stable,  a 
wisp  of  fine  sweet  hay  should  be  tied  in  a  cord,  and  suspended 
against  the  wall,  or  loosely  laid  in  a  manger,  where  it  can  nibble 
it.  The  hay  will  amuse  the  calf,  at  the  least,  and  it  soon  learns 
to  love  it,  aside  from  adding  much  to  its  nourishment.  As  soon 
as  the  grass  is  ready,  it  should  be  turned  into  a  small  paddock  to 
range  at  will.  If  running  water  be  not  at  hand,  it  should  be 
provided  in  a  tub,  or  trough,  that  constant  access  may  be  had  to 
it — for  your  calf  is  a  great  drinker,  aside  from  its  ordinary  meals 
of  milk,  or  gruel.  This  process  of  feeding  should  be  continued 
during  quite  four  months,  or  longer,  according  to  the  purpose  for 
which  it  is  to  be  reared,  with  a  little  salt,  either  in  its  food,  or 
placed  in  a  trough,  as  often  as  once  a  week,  to  keep  its  bowels 
regular,  and  promote  its  general  health.  In  a  dairy,  whey  may 
take  the  place  of  skimmed  milk,  and  where  whey  is  not  made, 
and  skimmed  milk  is  scarce,  after  the  first  six  weeks,  flax  seed 
jelly,  or  gruel  porridge,  may  be  used  altogether.  Other  substi- 
tutes may  take  its  place,  but  nothing  is  so  natural  food  for  the 
calf  as  milk. 


REARING    STOCK    CALVES.  269 

We  have  raised  stock  calves  in  different  ways,  but  in  none  so 
satisfactory  as  oil  their  mother's  milk,  drawn  by  themselves.  It 
is  more  expensive,  where  the  milk  is  of  considerable  value,  we 
admit,  but  less  troublesome  to  the  farmer.  Our  way  is  to  let  the 
calf  take — according  to  its  necessities,  and  the  quantity  the  cow 
gives — one,  two,  or  three  teats — first  drawing  clean  what  can  be 
spared  to  the  dairy,  from  the  teats  so  milked,  and  then  letting 
the  calves  take  the  residue.  "We  are  satisfied  that  one-third  less 
milk  drawn  by  the  calf  from  the  cow,  will  give  as  much  nourish- 
ment as  the  full  quantity  fed  him  by  hand.  The  saliva  secreted 
in  the  process  of  sucking  is  beneficial  in  aiding  the  digestion, 
such  being  the  natural  process.  Cows  that  are  good  milkers 
will  thus  rear  a  stock  calf,  to  three  or  four  months  old,  on  one- 
half  or  one-third  of  their  milk,  and  when  the  increased  value  of  the 
heifer  calves  for  future  dairy  cows  is  considered,  the  value  of  the 
milk  they  take  for  three  or  four  months  may  be  a  good  invest- 
ment in  them.  For  convenience,  two  calves  may  be  nursed  by 
one  cow,  which  is  often  preferred,  as  by  such  method  the  remain- 
ing cows  may  be  devoted  altogether  to  dairy  use. 

After  four  months,  the  calf,  if  intended  only  for  stock,  or  dairy 
purposes,  may  be  turned  out  to  pasture  without  further  hand 
feeding,  or  nursing  at  the  cow.  The  grass  should  be  good,  with 
water  always  at  hand.  In  this  way  the  calf  will  be  in  good  con- 
dition for  going  into  winter  quarters.  Then,  with  enough  good, 
soft  hay,  or  corn  blades,  salt  once  a  week,  and  plenty  of  good 
water,  it  will  go  through  the  winter  well,  and  come  out  a  thrifty, 
sprightly  yearling  at  the  next  grass.  Oats  in  the  grain,  or  corn, 
pea,  rye,  buckwheat,  or  barley  meal,  at  the  rate  of  a  pint,  or 
quart  a  day,  in  addition  to  their  ordinary  forage,  is  an  excellent 
food  for  stock  calves,  and  will  add  to  their  growth  and  condition; 
but  if  the  hay,  or  corn  blades  be  choice  in  quality,  they  will  go 
through  well  without  grain.  We  have  thus  reared,  and  seen 
reared  by  others,  very  fine  thorough  bred  calves  to  yearlings, 
minding  only,  to  give  them  all  they  would  eat. 


270  AMEBICAN    CATTLE. 

In  the  extracts  which  we  have  previously  given  in  the  chap- 
ters on  the  Galloway  and  Ayrshire  breeds  of  cattle,  will  be  found 
valuable  information  in  rearing  stock  calves,  to  which  we  refer 
the  reader.  It  may  be  thought  superfluous  to  have  introduced 
it;  but  on  so  important  a  subject,  none  too  much  information  can 
be  suggested. 

CALVES   FOB    VEAL, 

Should  have  all  the  milk,  direct  from  the  cow,  that  they  will 
take,  until  four  to  six  weeks  old,  with  corn  meal  added,  if  they 
will  take  it.  No  artificial  feeding  will  make  them  so  fit  for  that 
purpose  as  their  mother's  milk,  drawn  by  themselves;  and  it 
may  be  added,  that  no  veal  made  otherwise  is  worth  eating. 
Veal  calves  should  be  confined  to  a  small  space,  with  clean  bed- 
ding, and  pure  air.  Otherwise,  their  flesh  may  be  tainted  with 
the  effluvia  of  foul  stables. 

CALVES    RUNNING    WITH    THE    COWS. 

This,  at  the  best,  is  both  a  loose,  and  a  bad  practice.  We  are 
aware  that  in  many  localities,  where  land  is  of  low  value,  the 
milk  of  little  account,  and  labor  dear,  many  farmers  let  their 
calves  run  at  large  with  the  cows  through  the  season.  As  calves, 
they  are  the  better  for  it,  no  doubt;  but  as  yearlings,  and  after- 
wards, they  are  but  little  better  than  when  well  reared  by  hand, 
and  not  so  good  as  when  kept  separate  from  the  cow,  and 
suckled  at  regular  hours.  They  never  should  run  loose  with  the 
cow,  for  various  reasons: 

1st.  It  is  a  practice  of  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  breeder, 
which  should  not  be  tolerated.  The  cow  brings  her  calf  when 
lying  out  in  the  field,  and  may,  possibly,  suffer  much  in  parturi- 
tion, when  a  little  aid  would  make  everything  easy  and  comfort- 
able for  her.  If  her  udder  be  full,  and  she  give  more  milk  than 
the  calf  may  need  at  first,  which  is  almost  always  the  case,  one 
or  more  of  the  teats  will  be  neglected  by  it.  These  teats  become 


REARING   STOCK    CALVES.  271 

inflamed,  and  hard,  and  as  the  calf  has  no  judgment  in  the  matter, 
he  will  not  touch  it,  and  as  a  consequence,  after  causing  the  cow 
infinite  pain,  the  quarter  of  the  udder  affected  soon  dries  up,  and 
is  from  that  time  lost,  not  again,  even  at  a  future  time  of  calving, 
to  be  restored.  We  have  seen  very  fine  cows  subjected  to  such 
practice,  with  only  one  or  two  teats  left,  and  poor  nurses  they 
must  be,  as  the  quarters  of  the  udder  still  left  in  milk,  give  only 
their  proportionate  quantity  to  the  whole  when  in  full  action. 

2d.  The  cow  grows  wild,  and  refractory,  not  becoming  so 
tractable  after  running  with  the  calf  through  the  season. 

3d.  From  constant  sucking,  the  udder  cannot  be  distended 
by  its  full  secretions  of  milk,  and  it  becomes  contracted  by  habit, 
seldom  giving  so  much  milk  afterw-ards  as  when  drawn  but  twice 
a  day. 

4th.  The  calf  grows  up  wild  and  unmanageable.  If  a  steer, 
intended  for  grazing,  it  is  of  less  moment;  but  if  a  heifer, 
intended  for  the  dairy,  she  is  much  harder  to  manage  and  break 
in  than  if  subjected  to  early  handling. 

5th.  The  calf  grows  up  coarse,  and  heavy  necked,  and  is 
never  so  fine  as  when  brought  up  separate  from  the  cow.  In 
short,  we  have  not  a  word  to  say  in  favor  of  the  practice, 
only  in  those  great  cattle  ranges,  where,  from  various  circum- 
stances it  is  impossible  to  keep  them  within  bounds,  and  the 
breeds  are  such,  that  no  neglect,  or  bad  management,  can  make 
them  worse. 

HANDLING   YOUNG    ANIMALS SHELTER. 

The  advantages  of  bringing  up  young  stock  tame,  and  man- 
ageable, are,  that  they  feed  better  than  when  running  wild ;  they 
learn  the  call  of  their  keeper;  they  are  fearless.of  his  presence, 
and  seek  his  companionship  with  confidence.  No  cattle  breeder 
knows  into  what  hands  his  young  stock  may  fall,  and  to  the  buyer 
of  them  it  may  make  a  difference  of  some  dollars  in  the  value  of 


272  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

a  heifer,  or  steer,  whether  they  be  easy  to  handle,  or  otherwise, 
according  to  the  use  he  may  make  of  them.  "We  have  at  dif- 
ferent times  bought  both  steers  and  heifers  at  the  West — one  for 
the  yoke,  or  beef,  the  other  to  make  dairy  cows.  They  were 
treated  in  the  common  way  of  many  Western  breeders,  always 
running  out  in  winter,  as  well  as  in  summer,  and  the  labor  of 
breaking  them  into  the  stables  after  taking  them  home,  aside 
from  the  risk  of  injury,  was  a  heavy  tax  on  both  time  and 
patience.  Some  would  be  intractable  altogether,  and  have  to  be 
turned  out  for  beef  before  their  profitable  time,  while  others, 
after  a  few  days'  tying  up,  would  become  gentle,  and  give  no 
further  trouble.  We  know  that  in  large  breeding  herds,  and 
under  all  circumstances,  it  is  not  possible  to  always  bring  young 
cattle  up  to  familiar  handling,  from  the  want  of  stables,  or  sheds ; 
but  every  breeder  should  have  some  accommodation  of  the  kind. 
It  will  pay  him  a  better  interest  on  the  investment,  for  the  benefit 
of  his  stock,  than  any  other  expenditure,  to  a  moderate  amount, 
after  the  farm  is  fitted  for  occupation.  The  practice  so  common 
with  many  farmers,  of  giving  no  winter  shelter  to  their  stock,  is 
a  losing  one  in  food,  as  well  as  by  their  exposure  to  the  sudden 
change  of  the  atmosphere  and  weather.  Such  practice  should 
be  reformed. 

REARING    THOROUGH    BRED    HEIFERS. 

When  intended  for  breeding  only,  and  early  maturity  and  ready 
sales  are  the  object,  all  the  milk  from  the  cow  should  be  given, 
and  the  calf  may  draw  it  either  from  the  udder,  or  pail.  She 
should  be  confined  in  her  stall,  or  paddock,  kept  under  perfect 
control  with  the  halter,  and  in  addition  to  milk,  fed  with  all  the 
hay  or  grass — according  to  the  season — she  will  eat.  She  may 
nurse  her  dam,  or  be  fed  milk  from  the  pail  through  the  entire 
season,  if  necessary ;  but  six  to  eight  months  are  enough,  so  that 
she  have  a  sufficiency  of  other  good  food,  and  the  succeeding  calf 
will  be  all  the  better  for  the  long  rest  of  her  dam. 


REARING   STOCK    CALVES.  273 

It  has  been,  and  is  still,  a  matter  of  discussion  with  breeders, 
as  to  what  extent  the  growth  of  a  heifer  calf  should  be  forced, 
to  attain  her  best  estate,  as  a  breeder,  and  to  promote  improve- 
ment in  her  kind.  So  far  as  we  can  learn,  Bakewell  was  a  gen- 
erous feeder  of  his  young  stock,  and  forced  them  by  such  means 
to  early  maturity,  and  increased  ripeness  in  their  points.  So  too, 
but  hardly  in  so  great  degree,  were  the  Collings,  and  the  Booths. 
Bates,  perhaps  an  equal  improver  with  any  other  breeders  of  his 
later  day,  fed  well,  but  not  so  lavishly  as  they.  But  all  good 
breeders,  of  whom  we  have  any  particular  account,  fed  their 
stock  freely.  Almost  all  the  imported  cattle  which  we  have  seen 
— bulls,  cows,  heifers,  and  calves  alike,  came  over,  in  very  high 
condition — in  most  cases,  "  stall  fed."  Whether  they  were  so 
fed  at  home  to  better  fill  the  eye  of  the  purchaser  there,  or  for  sale 
after  landing  here,  or  because  the  whole  stock  of  their  breeders 
were  usually  so  kept  at  home,  we  do  not  know ;  but  it  is  certain 
that  heifers  so  forced  from  calf-hood  do  not  usually  prove  so  sure 
breeders,  as  when  only  well  fed,  without  the  forcing  process. 
No  doubt  high  feeding  produces  earlier  maturity  in  the  young 
heifer  than  low  keep  will  do ;  and,  it  is  possible  that  the  high 
feeding  of  heifers  up  to  their  breeding  age  may  have  a  marked 
effect  on  the  fleshy  propensities  of  their  offspring.  But  the 
process  is  not  a  natural  one,  and  it  should  be  managed  with  great 
caution. 

"Where  competition  actively  exists  for  sale  breeding,  the  ten- 
dency for  high  feeding  is  almost  irrepressible.  The  merits  of 
young  animals  are  too  often  decided  on  the  show  grounds  of  the 
annual  cattle  exhibitions  in  favor  of  the  highest  fed  ones,  and  in 
the  beef  producing  breeds  the  practice  may  not  be  objectionable. 
But  for  milking  purposes  it  should  never  be  done,  as  the  milking 
tendency  may  be  held  in  abeyance  by  over  fatness,  and  it  should 
not  be  prematurely  stimulated  for  the  welfare  and  long  useful- 
ness of  the  future  cow.  Breeders  usually  pursue  that  course 
12* 


274  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

which  is  most  for  their  own  immediate  interest,  "and  probably,  if 
we  were  to  write  a  volume  on  the  subject  contrary  to  that  inter- 
est, their  practice  would  not  be  changed.  The  theory,  and  the 
direction,  at  most  of  our  American  cattle  exhibitions,  are,  that 
the  condition  in  flesh,  of  the  animals  placed  in  competition  for 
prizes,  is  not  to  be  considered  by  the  judges  in  awarding  their 
premiums ;  but  the  result  of  the  awards  has  in  most  cases  been, 
that  the  high  fed  ones  get  the  prizes,  and  the  leaner  ones  do  not. 
Much  flesh,  like  charity,  sometimes  covers  a  multitude  of  sins,  in 
the  anatomy  wrapped  within  it.  Hence,  the  tendency  is  to  high 
feeding  with  all  who  wish  to  make  sales — as  almost  every  breeder 
does — and  in  all  public  sales  of  cattle  that  we  ever  witnessed, 
the  fat  breeding  cows  outsold  the  lean,  even  when  of  inferior 
anatomical  excellence.  The  eye  will,  in  a  majority  of  cases 
with  men,  as  they  run,  take  precedence  of  the  judgment,  and  so 
long  as  the  popular  feeling  tends  that  way,  breeders  will  take 
that  course  which  gives  them  the  most  ready  money.  Still,  the 
fact  remains,  that  the  forced  feeding  of  young  heifers  is  a  hurtful 
practice,  in  the  long  run. 

INFLUENCING    THE    SEX    OF    CALVES. 

"We  have,  at  different  times,  seen  sundry  papers,  mostly  by 
fanciful  writers,  directing  the  way  to  produce  different  sexes,  at 
will,  by  the  treatment  of  the  cow,  or  bull,  at  the  time  of  procrea- 
tion; but  we  confess,  without  convincing  us  of  any  truth  in  the 
methods  prescribed.  The  most  ingenious  of  these  various  pro- 
cesses, and  of  course,  the  most  painstaking,  are  given  by  French 
or  Swiss  writers.  "We  do  not  repeat  them,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  we  have  no  faith  in  them.  The  English  breeders  appear  to 
have  little,  if  any,  confidence  in  such  artificial  efforts,  consid- 
ering them,  as  most  sensible  people  do,  abortive.  "Male  and 
female  created  He  them,"  is  the  great  law  of  production,  and  in 
about  equal  proportions  in  all  animated  nature,  so  far  as  history 
and  experience  has  proved ;  and  all  man's  ingenuity  to  the  con- 


REARING   STOCK   CALVES.  275 

trary  has  been  ineffective.  Our  own  credulity  has  been  exer- 
cised in  various  trials  of  the  kind,  only  to  convince  us  of  the 
folly  of  pursuing  them,  and  on  comparing  notes  with  experi- 
enced breeders,  who  have  also  tried  various  methods,  our  conclu- 
sions have  been  alike.  In  some  years,  to  be  sure,  we  have  had 
a  preponderance  of  one  sex,  in  calves,  over  the  other ;  in  another 
year  it  would  be  reversed;  but  on  an  average  of  several  years, 
the  sexes  were  about  equal,  yet  differing  in  proportion,  within  the 
same  neighborhoods.  There  may  have  been  peculiar  hidden 
influences  to  control  the  result  in  a  given  herd,  of  one  year 
beyond  another ;  but  as  no  human  observation  has  yet  arrived  at 
a  certainty  in  its  solution,  we  may  more  wisely  let  it  alone,  and 
be  content  with  what  nature  gives  us,  being  careful,  by  our  own 
attention,  that  it  be  as  good  as  possible,  of  its  kind. 


CHAPTER  XXIIL 

BEEF  CATTLE.   DIFFERENCES  IN  BREED REGULARITY  OF  CON- 
DITION  PROPER  AGES  FOR  FATTENING MODES  OF  FEEDING 

SHAPE  OF  FAT  CATTLE. 

THE  rearing  of  cattle  for  beef  only,  is  purely  an  economical 
question,  and  the  profit  or  loss  in  rearing  and  feeding  them, 
depends,  in  a  measure,  on  the  breed  of  the  animal,  and  the 
locality  where  they  are  reared  and  fed. 

We  have  already  shown  the  money  value  of  the  beef  product 
of  the  country.  We  have  discussed  the  different  breeds  best 
adapted  to  make  it,  and  to  a  wise  selection  from'  them,  both  the 
breeder,  and  the  grazier  must  look,  measurably,  for  the  profit 
they  are  to  receive  in  their  production  and  feeding.  It  costs  the 
breeder  no  more  to  breed  a  good  calf  than  a  poor  one.  It  costs 
the  grazier  no  more  to  feed  a  good  steer  or  heifer  than  a  poor 
one.  It  costs  the  stall-feeder  no  more  to  fat  a  good,  than  a  poor 
one — all  owing  to  the  superior  fitness  of  the  animal  for  the  pur- 
pose. Some  cattle  are  so  anatomically  formed  as  to  make  it 
impossible  for  them  to  take  on  flesh  in  the  right  places,  or  even 
to  take  much  flesh  at  all.  It  is  therefore  of  the  highest  conse- 
quence, that  only  the  right  kinds  be  used  for  that  purpose. 
Some  animals  will  only  mature  their  carcasses  into  good  beef  at 
five,  six,  or  more  years  old,  while  others  will  be  well  matured  at 
three  to  four,  or  in  spayed  heifers,  at  two  years.  The  first  of 
these,  as  slow  feeders,  are  unprofitable  to  all  who  touch  them ; 
the  others  are  profitable  at  every  age,  from  calf  hood  to  slaughter. 

If,  in  light  of  all  the  observation  and  experience  we  have  on 


BEEF    CATTLE.  277 

this  subject,  men  will  raise  poor  cattle,  they  must  suffer  the  con- 
sequences. No  good  grazier  or  stall-feeder  ought  to  touch  them. 
Little  money  is  to  be  made  out  of  them,  at  almost  any  price. 

Cattle  intended  for  beef  only,  as  for  other  purposes,  should 
always  be  well  fed,  and  kept  growing.  Full  pasture  during  the 
grazing  season,  and  plenty  of  hay,  or  corn  forage  in  winter,  with 
straw,  more  or  less,  to  lie  upon,  with  salt  every  week  or  ten  days, 
throughout  the  year,  up  to  two  years  and  a  half  old,  they  should 
have.  According  to  their  ripeness  for  feeding  off,  the  third 
winter  they  may  be  fed  some  grain.  At  three  full  years  old, 
they  should  have  the  best  pasturage,  that  they  may  get  fat  on 
grass,  as  that  is  the  cheapest  possible  way  to  put  on  flesh.  The 
next  winter  and  spring,  when  coming  four  years  old,  any  animal 
intended  for  beef  ought  to  be  fit  for  slaughter,  and  if  of  the 
proper  breed,  or  a  good  grade  of  that  breed,  it  will  be. 

"We  maintain  that  where  cattle  pasture  and  winter  forage  is  of 
any  value,  no  neat  animal,  for  beef  alono,  can  be  profitably  kept 
after  four  years  old — from  three  to  four  years  of  age  being  the 
maximum  of  time  which  should  be  allowed  for  feeding,'  up  to 
slaughter.  No  animal,  unless  it  be  a  milk  cow,  or  a  working  ox, 
can  pay  for  keeping,  unless  for  some  extraordinary  purpose,  a 
longer  time.  It  has  been  conclusively  proved  that  cattle  of  good 
breeds  acquire  their  full  profitable  ripeness,  at  three  and  a  half, 
to  four  years  of  age.  Such  bullocks,  of  the  Short-horn  or  Here- 
ford breeds,  or  high  grades  of  those  breeds,  well  kept  as  store 
cattle,  and  fed  off  on  grain  during  their  last  autumn  and  winter, 
will  easily  attain  1,600  to  1,800,  or  even  2,000  pounds,  live 
weight,  and  the  Devons  and  other  good  lighter  breeds,  1,300  to 
1,500  pounds,  and  spayed  heifers  in  proportionate  weight,  with 
somewhat  earlier  maturity.  They  can  be  kept  profitably  up  to 
those  ages  and  weights;  but  unless  for  "show"  purposes,  or  to 
develop  some  extraordinary  point  or  characteristic,  their  further 
keeping  must  result  in  a  loss,  comparatively,  for  the  food  con- 
sumed, and  the  flesh  they  will  lay  on. 


278  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Steers  of  common,  or  inferior  breeds,  which  will  not  be  well 
covered  with  flesh  at  the  ages,  and  under  the  circumstances  of 
those  above'  named,  are  scarcely  worth  breeding  and  rearing  at 
all,  where  good  beef  is  in  question,  and  fair  profits  in  the  busi- 
ness are  considered.  The  modes  of  feeding,  the  materials  on 
which  they  are  fed,  and  their  values,  vary  so  much  in  different 
sections  of  the  country  where  the  cattle  are  prepared  for 
market,  that  no  directions  can  be  given  to  govern  all  circum- 
stances alike.  In  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  where  land  is 
dear,  and  forage  of  most  kinds  proportionately  so,  all  the  food 
given  to  fattening  cattle,  should  be  prepared  in  the  best  manner 
for  ready  assimilation  to  nourishment,  when  it  goes  into  the 
stomach.  Grain  should  be  ground  into  meal — no  corn-cobs  in 
it,  for  cob  meal  is  no  better  than  sawdust — hay  should  be  cut  into 
chaff,  and  moistened,  and  with  a  due  proportion  of  meal,  mixed 
together  for  easy  mastication,  with  warm  shelter  for  stall-feed- 
ing during  the  winter,  thus  saying  at  least  twenty-five  to  thirty 
per  cent,  in  food,  to  make  a  given  quantity  of  flesh,  over  feeding 
unground  grain,  or  uncut  hay.  If  roots  be  fed,  they  should  be 
cut  also.  The  policy  of  cooking  the  food  for  cattle,  by  steaming, 
is  discussed  elsewhere.  It  is  a  question  for  trial,  and  its 
economy  must  depend  on  circumstances  touching  the  price  of  fuel, 
the  value  of  labor,  and  other  circumstances;  but  as  food,  cooked 
and  warm,  is  made  easier  to  the  digestive  powers  of  the  stomach, 
there  is  no  doubt  that  a  less  quantity  will  make  mare  flesh,  than 
when  uncooked.  That  ground  grain,  and  cut  hay,  will  make 
more  flesh  than  if  not  so  prepared,  has  been  too  thoroughly 
tried  to  admit  of  a  question.  The  item  of  expense  in  so  prepar- 
ing it  must  determine  its  policy. 

With  the  mass  of  Western  feeders,  where  land  is  compara- 
tively low,  labor  dear,  artificial  shelter  does  not  abound,  and  mills 
are  scarce,  the  case  is  different.  Corn  fed  from  the  shock,  where 
the  stalks  and  blades  supply  the  place  of  hay,  as  is  almost  uni- 


BEEF    CATTLE.  279 

versally  the  custom  below  the  latitude  of  40°  north,  may  be 
more  economical.  Time  and  trial  must  solve  these  questions. 
But  as  railways  penetrate  the  country,  making  corn  more  valua- 
ble to  the  producer,  as  he  is  in  greater  or  less  proximity  to  them, 
the  different  modes  of  feeding  will  be  worthy  of  consideration. 

Let  us  examine  this  important  matter  of  fattening  off,  or  stall- 
feeding,  a  little  more  minutely,  as  to  its  economy.  A  few  years 
ago,  we  met  a  gathering  of  graziers  and  breeders  in  a  West- 
ern cattle  growing  State  bordering  the  Ohio  river,  when  the 
subject  of  breeding,  grazing,  and  feeding  beef  cattle,  came  under 
discussion.  They  were  among  the  most  intelligent,  thrifty,  and 
wealthy  of  that  class  of  farmers  who  deal  largely  in  neat  stock, 
and  feed  them  for  market.  We  asked  the  question:  "How  much 
corn,  fed  from  the  shock,  in  the  usual  way  of  out-door  field-feed- 
ing, does  it  take  to  carry  a  three  to  four  year  old  Short-horn 
grade  bullock,  (as  those,  in  that  region,  are  admitted  to  be  the 
most  profitable,)  from  the  fall  of  the  year,  when  corn  is  needed, 
to  fit  him  for  market  at  any  time  from  February  to  April?"  A 
half-dozen  replies  were  made  to  the  question,  not  from  any  actual 
measurement  that  they  had  ever  made — for  the  inquiry  appeared 
to  be  a  new  one,  in  their  great  abundance  of  corn  forage,  which 
they  had  not  always  been  in  habit  of  closely  saving — but  only 
of  estimate.  One  replied,  "about  fifty  bushels;"  another,  "sixty;" 
another,  "seventy-five;"  another,  "perhaps  eighty,"  and  so  on 
up  to,  "at  the  very  most,  a  hundred."  Another  "estimated" 
that  "an  acre  of  good  corn,  taking  it  as  it  run,  would  usually 
feed  off  a  bullock  well." 

Not  one  of  these  graziers,  and  feeders,  although  they  had  been 
in  the  business  many  years,  and  some  of  them  made  large  sums 
of  money  in  it,  had  even  gone  into  nice  estimates,  and  probably 
for  reasons  which  they  could  not  well  control.  In  the  first  place, 
they  had  corn  enough,  and  the  cattle  must  be  fatted,  let  the  quan- 
tity consumed  by  them  be  what  it  might.  A  better  reason,  we 


280  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

think,  for  the  difference  in  estimate,  was  the  inequality  of  the 
seasons  and  weather  during  the  feeding  time;  as,  if  the  winter 
were  colder,  or  warmer,  and  the  cattle  being  unsheltered,  the 
amount  of  food  consumed  would  depend  much  upon  the  severity, 
or  mildness,  of  the  weather,  and  the  storms  to  which  they  were 
subjected,  the  cattle  eating  much  more,  and  taking  less  flesh  in 
cold,  and  eating  less,  while  making  more  flesh  in  mild  weather. 
Thus,  we  can  readily  conceive,  that  in  a  mild  season  fifty  bushels 
of  grain  would  give  as  much  flesh  as  a  hundred  would  in  a  very 
severe  one.  That  is  a  fact  so  palpable,  that  no  one,  of  any  expe- 
rience in  the  business,  will  dispute  it. 

STALL-FEEDING. 

Now,  if  those  cattle  were  properly  housed,  and  kept  dry  under 
an  equable  temperature,  their  hay,  or  corn  fodder  cut,  and  their 
corn  ground,  the  food  would  be  consumed  in  nearly  uniform 
rations,  and  the  feeder  could  know,  nearly  to  a  certainty,  about 
how  much  his  bullocks  would  cost  per  head  to  fatten  them.  The 
scales,  and  measures,  would  decide  the  matter.  Nor  need  the 
labor  question  here  interfere  against  the  latter  method.  With  a 
good  horse  power — not  an  expensive  one — a  good  straw  cutter, 
(both  costing  not  to  exceed  two,  or  three  hundred  dollars,)  and  a 
horse  of  the  cheapest  kind  to  propel  them,  two  men  will  cut  and 
mix,  for  feeding,  two  tons  of  food  every  day.  "We  have  seen 
it  done  when  every  thing  was  handy  for  the  work,  and  the  forage 
at  hand. 

The  process  of  feeding  beef  cattle  in  this  way,  is  quite  simple. 
The  stalls  being  properly  prepared,  the  bullocks,  even  if  they 
never  before  went  into  a  stable,  and  wild  in  habit,  once  being  inside 
and  finding  good  fodder,  will  soon  eagerly  return,  take  their 
proper  places,  and  submit  to  be  tied  by  the  rope,  or  chain,  or  put 
their  heads  through  stanchels.  At  the  first  few  feedings,  the 
quantity  of  grain,  or  meal,  should  be  moderate,  but  daily  increas- 
ing until  the  stomach  will  dispose  of  all  that  may  be  necessary 


BEEF    CATTLE.  281 

to  crowd  the  flesh  on  to  them  in  the  shortest  time.  They  should 
not  be  over  fed,  nor  ever  given  more  than  they  can  clean  up  at 
a  meal.  By  giving  every  beast  his  accustomed  place,  or  stall, 
the  feeder  soon  learns  to  gauge  the  quantity  he  usually  eats ;  or, 
if  they  take  their  places  promiscuously,  the  feeder  must  watch, 
and  see  that  each  one  have  his  proper  allowance,  for  this  is  not  a 
business  to  be  neglected  by  simply  throwing  the  feed  carelessly 
into  the  mangers,  and  then  leaving  the  cattle  to  themselves  with- 
out further  care,  as  though  his  work  was  completed.  The  eye 
of  the  feeder  must  be  upon  his  stock  continually. 

Finely  cut  hay,  or  corn  stalks,  (above  the  ear,)  through  the  cut- 
ting box,  with  fine  ground  Indian  corn,  barley,  rye,  buckwheat, 
pea,  or  oat  meal,  or  oil  cake,  measured  by  weight,  not  bulk,  well 
mixed,  with  plenty  of  water  sprinkled  equally  through  it,  is  the 
very  best  way  possible  to  put  flesh  on  to  any  ruminating  animal. 
The  cut  fodder  should  be  so  proportioned  as  to  fill  the  stomach, 
and  meal  enough  mixed  with  it  to  give  all  the  nourishment 
required  in  the  way  of  fattening.  These  proportions  may  have 
to  be  changed,  somewhat,  according  as  the  weather  may  be  mild, 
or  frosty,  less  grain  being  required  in  soft,  and  more  in  severe 
da/s.  If  the  cold  affects  the  temperature  of  the  stables  adversely, 
the  animal  heat  must  be  kept  up  by  a  greater  quantity  of  food 
than  would  be  needed  when  the  temperature  is  milder.  All  this 
must  be  a  matter  of  close  observation  with  the  feeder. 

Now,  if  this  food  could  go  into  the  stomach  of  the  animal  at 
blood  heat — and  here  comes  in  the  additional  advantage  of  cook- 
ing it — so  much  of  animal  heat  as  has  to  be  expended  in  warm- 
ing that  otherwise  cold  food  after  entering  the  stomach,  would  be 
saved  to  go  into  flesh,  for  the  animal  heat  has  to  be  created  by 
this  food,  and  is  therefore  expended  in  producing  it,  and  cannot, 
to  such  heat  creating  extent,  of  course,  make  fat,  or  flesh.  So, 
also,  would  be  saved  the  amount  of  food  expended  in  producing 
the  muscular  strength  and  work  of  the  jaws  in  grinding,  for 


282  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

this  power  has  to  be  furnished  from  some  source,  and  we  hold 
that  the  power  so  produced  in  the  internal  system  of  the  animal 
itself,  is  the  dearest  possible  way  of  making  it.  Cooking,  or 
warming  the  food,  is,  therefore,  a  great  economy,  much  more,  we 
consider,  than  its  additional  expense.  We  shall  examine  this 
subject  hereafter. 

Cattle  thus  stall-fed,  should  only  leave  their  stables  for  water, 
and  a  little  exercise.  An  hour  in  a  day,  altogether,  is  quite 
enough  for  both,  at  either  once,  or  twice,  as  they  may  need  it. 
With  their  food  well  moistened,  water  once  a  day  may  be 
enough,  or  twice,  at  the  extent.  They  should  have  all  the  rest 
they  need,  and  if  kept  clean,  as  they  should  be,  and  well  bedded 
with  straw,  or  other  litter,  which  is  better  than  on  a  bare  floor, 
they  will  lie  down  most  of  the  time  when  not  feeding,  and  take 
on  flesh  much  faster.  Such,  we  esteem,  the  perfection  of  the 
stock-feeding  process. 

In  opposition  to  this  expensive  process,  as  many  Western  gra- 
ziers may  consider  it,  they  contend  that,  by  feeding  corn  in  the 
ear  to  cattle,  and  letting  swine  follow  them  in  the  fields,  all 
the  grain  is  consumed.  What  passes  the  cattle  wholly,  o^  in 
part,  unmasticated,  as  a  considerable  portion  of  it  does,  is  taken 
by  the  swine,  swelled  and  partially  cooked,  and  better  prepared 
for  them.  We  admit  the  fact,  but  it  is  a  dirty  and  slovenly  way 
of  swine  feeding,  and  the  flesh  they  thus  take  on  is  of  an  inferior 
quality.  "Besides  this,  the  jaws  of  the  cattle  must  be  the  grind- 
ing mill  for  the  grain,  and  their  stomachs  the  cooking  cauldron 
for  the  process;  and  a  more  expensive  method  for  either  cannot 
well  be  imagined.  The  muscular  power  for  grinding,  and  the 
heat  for  cooking,  must  both  be  supplied  by  extraordinary  quan- 
tity of  grain  fed  to  them.  We  fully  admit  the  manual  labor 
saving  in  this  more  primitive  process  over  the  other,  but  contend, 
also,  that  the  greater  economy  in  the  saving  of  food,  is  much 
more  than  a  compensation,  and  a  larger  profit  is  left  to  the  stock 
owner  by  the  improved  process. 


BEEF    CATTLE.  283 

To  the  objection  of  the  absence  of  milk  for  grinding  the  grain, 
the  husking  and  shelling  the  corn,  the  bagging  and  drawing  to 
mill  and  back,  the  toll  for  grinding,  cutting  the  hay,  stalks  for 
straw,  and  other  expenses,  we  place  on  the  other  side,  full  one- 
third  gain  in  the  quantity  of  forage  and  grain  expended,  a  much 
shorter  time  in  fitting  the  cattle  for  market,  and  the  additional 
quality  of  the  manure  made.  Taken  all  together,  we  are  satisfied 
the  balance  sheet  will  tell  in  favor  of  the  improved  method.  If 
grain  mills  are  now  scarce  in  the  feeding  districts,  a  demand  for 
grinding  will  soon  supply  them,  propelled  either  by  water,  or 
steam,  and  like  all  other  wants  in  these  days  of  machinery,  they 
will  be  soon  supplied. 

A  word  or  two  more  in  relation  to  manure,  the  economy  of 
which  is  often  overlooked  or  neglected.  It  is  valuable  on  almost 
any  land.  "We  care  not  how  rich  the  land,  in  its  virgin  state, 
may  be.  The  manure  will  help  it,  on  all  uplands.  We  never 
saw  land  too  rich  for  growing  Indian  corn,  or  grass.  Stable 
manure,  or  manure  made  under  sheds,  is  of  better  quality  than 
manure  dropped  from  cattle  promiscuously  in  the  field.  It  can 
be  put  where  it  is  wanted.  That  which  is  dropped  in  the  fields 
by  the  cattle,  must,  of  necessity,  lie  unevenly  on  the  surface,  and 
be  used  where  dropped,  and  the  labor  of  hauling  it  from  the 
sheds,  or  stables,  is  amply  compensated  in  the  uniformity  of  its 
distribution,  over  that  which  is  accidentally  deposited  by  the  cat- 
tle as  they  roam  over  the  fields.  Those  who  have  practiced  the 
loose  way  of  ordinary  cultivation,  may  not  so  estimate  the  fact, 
but  a  trial  will  soon  settle  it.  Thousands  of  acres  of  lean 
uplands  may,  every  year,  be  seen  giving  only  twenty  to  thirty 
bushels  of  corn,  or  a  ton,  or  less  of  hay  to  the  acre,  while  a  river 
bottom,  or  a  small  enriched  "home  lot,"  will  give  twice,  or  thrice, 
the  quantity  of  both;  and  the  same  lean  uplands,  by  the  applica- 
tion of  those  so  saved  manures,  may  be  made  to  yield  just  as 
well,  from  the  advantages  of  the  improved  modes  of  feeding. 


284  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Another  item  which  may  be  taken  into  account,  as  to  the  man- 
ner of  feeding,  is  the  number  of  cattle  which  the  grazier  or 
stall-feeder  has  on  hand.  It  takes  but  little  more  labor  to  feed 
fifty  cattle  than  ten,  or  in  like  proportions  of  number.  In  the 
way  of  transportation,  it  costs  little  more  to  carry  a  fat  beast  to 
market  than  it  does  a  lean  one.  They  mostly  go  by  rail.  They 
are  charged  by  the  car  load,  and  a  given  number  of  pounds  is 
allotted  to  the  car;  so,  according  to  the  price  he  brings,  the  lean 
bullock  costs  more  to  carry  than  the  fat  one,  as 'he  has  as  much 
length  and  breadth  of  bone,  if  less  flesh,  and  takes  nearly  as 
much  room  as  the  fat  one,  while  his  selling  value  may  not  be 
more  than  half,  or  two-thirds  as  much ;  and  this,  in  a  transporta- 
tion of  a  thousand  miles  or  more,  is  a  considerable  sum  in  the 
aggregate.  The  drover  is  paying  a  huge  price  for  transporting 
bone,  horn,  hoof,  and  paunch,  for  no  good  whatever,  for  they  are 
all  waste,  and  when  in  market  his  stock  is  "blown"  upon  by 
every  buyer  he  meets,  and  at  the  best  they  go  off  at  low  prices. 
We  have  seen  hundreds  of  car  loads  of  what  are  called,  in  the 
Eastern  markets,  "Durham  Steers" — grown  in  all  the  States 
where  Short-horns,  or  any  other  choice  breeds,  in  their  high 
grades  are  kept,  and  well  fed — which  cost  not  over  five  to  ten 
dollars  a  head  more  in  their  transportation,  than  the  poorest 
scrub.  Such  cattle  sell  readily,  at  good  prices,  in  almost  any 
state  of  the  market,  while  the  ragged  ones  wait,  perhaps  some 
days  for  a  buyer,  and  then  at  two,  three  or  four  cents  lower,  in 
every  pound  of  estimated  weight. 

SHAPE  OF  A  FAT  NEAT  ANIMAL. 

The  proper  shape  of  a  fat  ox  or  cow  of  a  good  breed,  when 
the  head,  neck,  and  legs  are  cut  off,  should  be  nearly  an  oblong 
square,  and  the  nearer  they  approach  that  shape,  the  more  per- 
fect they  are.  A  square  anatomy  gives  a  broad  space  for  the 
lungs  and  the  viscera,  and  room  for  the  deposit  of  inside  fat. 


BEEF    CATTLE. 


285 


Thus  constructed,  the  animal  feeds  profitably,  and  dies  well — 
satisfactory  alike  to  both  feeder  and  butcher. 

We  illustrate  our  point,  in  giving  four  cuts,  representing  the 
back,  front,  rear,  and  side  views  of  a  fat  ox.  They  are  no  exag- 
geration of  one  fed  up  to  his  greatest  capacity,  although  the 
profit  of  such  extreme  feeding,  beyond  that  to  produce  "first- 
class"  beef,  may  be  questioned.  The  quality  of  such  highly 
fattened  flesh,  is  less  savory  than  when  only  well  fatted. 


In  this  ox,  every  part  of  the  meat,  throwing  out  the  hide,  tal- 
low, and  bone,  of  course,  is  good,  consumable  flesh.  There  are 
the  best  of  steaks,  roasts,  corning  pieces ;  and  the  least  valuable 


286  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

parts,  which  would  be  nearly  worthless  in  a  lean  ox,  are  good 
for  drying.  When  dressed,  there  is  really  no  loss  in  the  carcass, 
except  bone.  In  Fig.  4,  D  and  C,  the  (brisket  and  round,)  make 
the  finest  mess  beef,  and  in  large  quantity.  The  loin,  at  B,  and 
following  up  the  back  to  the  shoulder,  being  broad  and  full,  gives 
the  best  of  steaks,  and  roasts.  The  "plates,"  at  F,  are  full  and 
thick,  and  give  excellent  corning  and  packing  pieces;  while  the 
shoulder  points,  or  neck  vein,  at  A,  and  the  thigh,  at  E,  make 
good  pieces  for  drying  or  smoking.  It  is  easy  to  see,  therefore, 
that  such  an  animal  turns  all  the  extra  food  given  to  him,  into 
profitable  flesh  and  tallow.  He  has  no  more  bone,  and  little 
more  hide,  than  if  he  were  lean. 

The  economv  of  good  feeding  is  too  palpable  for  extended 
observation.  We  have  stood  in  the  extensive  sale  cattle  yards 
of  Buffalo,  the  past  winter  and  spring — 1866—7 — in  the  midst  of 
two  thousand  or  more  bullocks,  and  seen  hundreds  of  first  quality 
high  grade  "Durham  Steers,"  three  to  four  years  old,  reared  in 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  other  Western  States,  go  off  briskly,  from 
drover  to  dealer,  at  nine  to  eleven  cents  a  pound,  live  weight, 
while  the  great  majority  of  inferior  things  hung  back,  and  went 
off  slowly  at  four  and  a  half  cents  for  the  worst,  and  so  on  up  to 
five,  six,  seven,  and  eight,  for  "poor,"  "middling,"  and  "fair." 

Two  items  only,  made  this  wide  difference — breed,  atid  feeding. 
Some  were  so  execrably  bad,  in  shape  and  inferiority  of  breed, 
that  no  amount  of  good  feed  would  make  them  profitable  to  the 
breeder,  grazier,  or  feeder;  the  others  were  so  good  in  breed  and 
flesh,  that  they  were  profitable  in  every  hand  through  which 
they  passed,  from  calfhood  to  the  butcher's  block. 

CATTLE    OF    THE    LONDON  (ENGLISH)  MAEKETS. 

To  show  the  comparative  condition  of  our  American  beef  cat- 
tle with  those  of  England,  we  give  an  extract  from  a  letter  just 
received  from  our  brother,  Mr.  A.  B.  Allen,  of  New  York, 


BEEF    CATTLE.  287 

written  from  Liverpool,  in  September,  1867,  soon  after  he  had 
visited  the  great  London  cattle  market.  It  may  interest  our 
American  cattle  breeders : 

"The  great  cattle  market  of  London,  some  twelve  years  ago 
was  removed  from  Smithfield  to  Islington,  formerly  a  distinct 
village  from  London.  It  is  now  incorporated  with  it,  the  streets 
thither  and  beyond,  and  all  around,  being  solidly  built  up  since 
I  was  there  in  1841,  when  they  were  only  partially  built.  I  have 
visited  the  market  twice.  Monday  is  the  great  market  day  of 
the  week,  and  it  begins  at  6  A.  M.  I  was  there  a  little  before 
this  hour,  and  found  the  yards  full — 6,280  cattle  on  the  ground, 
besides  calves,  sheep,  and  swine.  It  is  the  most  complete  thing 
you  can  imagine.  It  was  opened  in  June,  1855,  by  Prince 
Albert,  with  a  great  public  display.  It  cost  £440,000 — over 
two  millions  of  dollars  !  Fifteen  acres  are. enclosed  in  a  square, 
which  will  hold  7,600  bullocks;  40,000  sheep;  1,400  calves,  and 
900  pigs.  In  the  center  of  this  is  a  high  clock  tower;  at  its 
base,  attached  to  it,  are  banking  houses,  telegraph  offices,  rooms 
for  the  officers  of  the  market,  clerks,  &c.  Around  this  square 
are  streets  with  hotels,  yards,  solid,  handsome  sheds,  and  eight 
slaughter  houses.  All  these  belong  to  the  market,  and  the  whole 
occupy  thirty  acres.  It  is  about  two  miles  in  a  direct  line  north 
of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  but  the  streets  wind  about  so  much,  I 
think  one  travels  at  least  three  miles  from  this  point  to  get  there. 
The  old  Smithfield  market  was  only  about  half  a  mile  north  of 
St.  Paul's. 

"At  Smithfield,  in  1841,  all  the  cattle  there  were  natives — 
now  not  over  one-fourth  to  one-third  are  natives.  Denmark, 
(mostly  Jutland,)  alone  furnishes  about  one-sixth;  Holland, 
France,  and  other  countries  many ;  so  it  was  no  great  place  after 
all  to  fully  judge  about  British  cattle,  only  by  comparison  with 
others.  The  foreign  mostly,  except  the  Dutch,  were  coarse,  raw- 
boned,  paunchy,  and  deficient  in  valuable  points,  (like  our  old 


288  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

natives,)  to  the  British.  The  black  and  white  Dutch  had  short 
legs,  tolerable  heavy  carcasses,  and  moderately  good  points.  I 
saw  very  few,  perhaps  none  at  all,  of  pure  short-horns — for  I 
presume  the  full  bred  males  are  too  valuable  to  make  into  steers, 
except  a  very  few  for  the  Smithfield  fat  cattle  club  show,  annu- 
ally, in  December.  But  among  the  British  cattle,  on  that  Mon- 
day I  was  at  the  yard,  short-horn  grades  predominated  in  number 
and  good  beef  points,  to  all  others,  and  to  my  surprise,  the 
butchers  informed  me  that  they  ranked  in  general  quality  as 
high  as  thorough  bred  Herefords  and  Devons.  The  Scotch 
Highlanders  still  rank  highest,  the  well  bred  Scotch  black 
polled,  or  Galloway,  next,  then  come  grade  short-horns,  Here- 
fords  and  Devons — pretty  much  all  others  go  in  one  general 
mass  with  foreign,  except  the  Dutch.  Some  butchers  might 
have  other  fancies,  and  rank  Herefords  or  Devons  before  short- 
horn grades,  but  this  was  the  general  answer,  so  far  as  my 
enquiries  extended.  When  in  Smithfield,  in  1841,  Devons 
ranked  next  to  the  Scotch,  then  Herefords,  then  grade  short- 
horns, but  these  latter  were  fewer  at  that  time  in  the  country, 
and  coarser,  and  not  so  high  graded  as  now,  which,  I  suppose, 
makes  the  difference.  The  Herefords,  and  Devons,  lack  in  full- 
ness between  the  hip-bones  to  the  end  of  the  rump.  They  are 
often  low  and  thin  in  that  valuable  point,  in  comparison  with 
the  short-horns,  and  you  cannot  get  so  good  rump  pieces  from 
them  as  from  the  short-horns,  and  this  for  corned  beef  is  one  of 
the  most  valuable  parts  of  the  carcass.  These  breeds,  also,  arc 
deficient  to  the  short-horns  in  breadth  of  loin ;  I  mean  across  the 
hip-bones;  also  in  the  brisket,  which  is  a  valuable  point.  The 
Devons  had  a  little  the  advantage  of  the  short-horn  grades  in 
the  crops — the  Herefords  are  about  equal  in  these  parts  to  them. 
"In  fact,  I  found  the  short-horns  better  here  than  I  expected. 
Then  they  handle  so  well,  look  so  fine,  and  ripe,  and  mellow  to 
the  eye,  that  I  cannot  compare  any  other  beast  to  them.  I  may 


BEEP    CATTLE.  289 

be  prejudiced  in  their  favor — perhaps  I  am — but  the  oftener  I 
look  at  them,  and  the  more  minutely  I  compare  them  with  other 
breeds  of  cattle,  the  better  I  like  them* 

"  The  Highlander  is  so  small  I  do  not  take  him  into  view  in  this 
comparison.  His  live  weight,  I  should  think,  is  from  700  to  900 
pounds,  as  the  extremes  of  steers  brought  to  market.  The  best 
of  them  are  as  near  perfection  of  form  as  you  can  imagine — 
exactly  like  a  small,  well  bred  south-down  sheep,  in  comparison 
to  other  sheep.  The  heads  and  horns  are  fine,  eyes  bright  and 
prominent,  face  dished,  and  small  muzzles,  with  large  nostrils — 
better  in  the  crops  than  any  other  animal,  being  as  full  and 
round  as  the  very  best  of  others  over  the  shoulders,  and  preserv- 
ing this  fullness  and  roundness  much  further  on  each  side  of  the 
back-bone  towards  the  hips.  I  wish  I  had  had  time  to  see  one 
cut  up  by  a  butcher — as  I  had  not — as  he  must  carry  an  extra 
nice,  lean,  tender,  juicy  piece  along  the  back.  The  brisket  is 
equal  to  the  best  short-horns,  for  their  size,  and  they  are  as  well 
let  down  in  the  twist  as  the  best  south-down  sheep.  The  hair  is 
soft  and  long,  so  you  may  judge  what  a  nice  little  beast  he  is — 
in  fact,  to  other  cattle,  what  an  Arabian  is  to  other  horses.  You 
cannot  improve  him  by  a  short-horn  cross.  Select  the  best  and 
improve  them  by  themselves,  is  the  true  way.  As  to  the  colors 
of  the  different  herds  of  Highlands  I  saw,  I  should  think  two- 
thirds  were  black;  most  of  the  others  a  light  yellow,  slightly 
inclined  to  dun,  or  light  mouse  color.  I  prefer  the  yellow,  and 
have  no  doubt  but  they  handle  best;  at  any  rate,  they  are  the 
handsomest  to  my  eye,  and  with  continued  selection,  might  be 
soon  bred  of  that  color  almost  entirely. 

"Of  the  polled  Scotch  black — Galloway  or  Angus — the  best 
do  not  weigh  more  than  about  two  hundred  pounds  over  the 

*  Ever  since  he  knew  them,  Mr.  A.  has  been  an  enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  short- 
horns.-L.  F.  A. 

13 


290  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Highlanders,  as  I  judge,  and  they  approach  them  in  perfection 
of  form. 

"The  short-horn  crosses  were  the  most  numerous  of  British 
cattle  the  Monday  I  was  there ;  Herefords  were  next,  then  Dev- 
ons,  one  of  which  was  very  perfect,  except  in  the  twist,  (and 
that  was  a  good  point  with  him,)  almost  as  much  so  as  the 
Highlanders.  They  stood  near  together,  and  I  had,  therefore,  a 
good  opportunity  to  compare  them.  Of  the  polled,  and  High- 
landers, only  a  few  were  present.  The  rest  were  made  up  with 
some  good  South  Devons,  or  Suffolks,  and  various  colored  beasts, 
not  worth  particularizing.  The  Smithfield  club  show,  I  fancy, 
is  now  the  only  true  one  to  fairly  judge  of  English  and  Scotch 
cattle.  They  are  then  all  brought  together  in  their  perfection.* 

"The  calves  brought  here,  were  nearly  all  short-horn  crosses, 
and  from  two  to  four  months  old.  The  sheep  were  very  fine, 
mostly  long-wooled,  and  south-down,  and  their  crosses,  and 
incomparably  superior  to  the  ragged  trumpery  called  "mutton" 
common  in  our  American  markets.  The  pigs  have  changed 
almost  entirely  since  I  was  here  in  1841.  Then  they  were 
mostly  thin,  slab-sided,  long-legged,  long-eared  brutes.  Now 
they  are  mostly  all  Neopolitan,  Suffolk,  Essex  black,  and  Berk- 
shires.  Of  the  latter,  many  are  of  the  old  original  color — sandy 
or  reddish  yellow,  with  black  spots.  All  the  above  varieties 
were  good;  some  very  fine  and  perfect.  I  still  prefer  the  Berk- 
shire, as  they  have  the  best,  largest,  and  most  meaty  hams,  the 
broadest  backs,  roundest  barrels,  and  best  shoulders.  In  fact,  they 
are  the  best  farmer's  swine  ever  known  in  England.  They  can- 
not be  improved. 

"I  left  London  the  following  "Wednesday,  for  Liverpool,  over 
two  hundred  miles.  As  I  noticed  the  cattle  along  the  way, 
three-fourths  of  these  were  short-horn  crosses,  the  remainder 

*  Some  of  onr  cattle  cuts  show  what  the  different  breeds  are  at  the  Smithfield  club 
exhibitions.-L.  F.  A. 


BEEF    CATTLE.  ,    291 

were  Herefords,  Scotch, — being  far  North  of  the  Devon  districts 
— and  common  natives,  indicating  that  the  short-horns  are  rapidly 
becoming  the  majority  of  English  cattle." 

TRANSPORTATION    OF    STOCK    TO    MARKET. 

In  all  parts  of  the  country  penetrated  by  railways,  cattle  are 
now  transported,  from  the  nearest  station  to  which  they  are  kept, 
in  cars.  It  is  the  readiest,  and  cheapest  mode  of  getting  them 
to  market,  and  when  under  proper  regulation,  they  lose  less  flesh, 
and  go  in  better  condition  than  by  any  other  way.  Still,  owing 
to  want  of  proper  conveniences  in  many  places,  cattle  often 
suffer  loss  of  flesh,  and  are  liable  to  frequent  accident.  But,  so 
important  to  the  earnings  of  the  roads  has  this  traffic  become, 
and  the  competition  between  the  various  lines  so  great,  that  good 
accommodations  for  the  cattle  and  drovers,  are  rapidly  becoming 
established  on  all  the  main  competing  lines — so  much  so,  indeed, 
that  a  comparison  between  the  earlier  and  latter  modes  of  trans- 
portation, is  wonderful,  in  their  improvement. 

Crowded  into  the  cars,  as  they  must  of  necessity  be,  and 
standing  on  their  feet  throughout  the  passage,  no  cattle,  or  other 
animals,  should  be  more  than  twenty-four  hours  between  their 
feeding  stations  and  yards;  and  those  yards,  in  every  way, 
should  be  commodious,  dry  in  all  weathers,  and  comfortable, 
where  the  stock  can  have  perfect  rest,  good  shelter,  abundant 
forage,  and  pure  water  for  any  time  they  may  remain  there. 

RAILWAY    CATTLE    YARDS. 

The  most  commodious,  and  best  systematized  cattle  yards  we 
have  yet  seen,  are  those  which  have  been  recently  erected  at 
Buffalo,  where  the  New  York  Central,  the  Lake  Shore,  and  Erie 
Rail  Roads  center,  and  discharge  and  take  on  their  stock.  The 
yards  cover  many  acres ;  are  thoroughly  floored  with  plank,  and 
paved  with  stone,  enclosed  with  tight  and  high  fences,  laid  out 
in  broad  alleys,  with  sufficient  gates  and  outlets,  and  will  hold 


292  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

from  two  hundred  down  to  fifty  cattle  each,  as  the  various  lots, 
in  numbers,  may  require  accommodation.  These  yards  are  all 
supplied  with  racks  and  mangers  for  feeding,  troughs  for  water- 
ing, (the  water  being  let  in  from  aqueducts,)  and  well  roofed 
o'ver  head,  with  abundant  room  for  the  animals  to  lie  down  and 
rest  at  pleasure.  Hay  and  grain  barns  are  conveniently  situated 
on  the  premises,  and  the  forage,  accurately  weighed  and  brought 
in  on  wagons,  distributed  at  any  and  all  hours  when  demanded. 
The  rail  tracks  run  close  on  two  sides  of  the  yards,  for  ingress 
and  egress,  as  occasion  may  demand.  Everything  relating  to 
the  comfort  and  convenience  of  stock  of  every  description,  is 
compact  and  commodious,  with  perfect  safety  to  animals,  and  their 
keepers,  and  the  dispatch  of  whatever  business  relates  to  them. 
Several  thousand  cattle,  besides  swine,  and  sheep,  weekly,  are 
thus  entered  and  distributed,  with  less  labor  and  inconvenience 
than  a  third  of  the  numbers  could  be  in  a  common  yard,  and 
under  the  ordinary  management  so  long  practiced  with  the  old 
and  less  matured  system,  under  which  the  business  has  hereto- 
fore been  managed.  Yards  of  like  character  have  been  fitted 
up  at  other  large  railway  centers,  and  will  probably  soon  become 
quite  common  on  all  the  leading  cattle  routes  to  market. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

WORKING    OXEN. 

INDISPENSABLE  for  draft  in  many  laborious  occupations,  aside 
from  farm  work,  the  ox  is  quite  as  valuable  in  aiding  our  indus- 
try, as  the  horse.  We  have  read  much  that  has  been  written  on 
the  comparative  economy  of  ox  and  horse  labor  on  the  farm,  and 
elsewhere,  without  arriving  at  any  satisfactory  conclusion,  other 
than  that  circumstances  must  control  the  employment  of  either 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  other,  or  that  they  may  both  be  profit- 
ably used  in  different  labors.  On  rough  and  stony  soils,  the  ox 
is  almost  indispensable  in  farm  labor,  while  he  is  there  more 
profitable  than  the  horse.  In  various  other  labors  of  draft,  as 
lumbering,  mining,  and  on  roads,  in  certain  localities,  he  is  equally 
available,  and  more  economical. 

His  advantages  are,  cheapness  in  cost;  easy  to  keep;  simpli- 
city, as  well  as  cheapness  in  his  gear;  patience,  and  endurance 
under  labor ;  less  liability  to  accident ;  safety  against  loss,  or 
straying  when  turned  to  pasture ;  and,  when  done  as  a  worker, 
the  conversion  of  his  carcass  into  beef.  All  know  his  value  who 
have  need  of  his  labor ;  yet,  but  a  part  of  those  who  employ 
him,  are  aware  of  his  greatly  increased  value  under  proper  treat- 
ment. No  laboring  beast  is  so  much  abused — not  excepting  the 
mule — as  the  ox.  His  patience,  endurance,  and  fidelity  under 
rough  usage,  gives  him  many  a  hard  and  neglectful  master,  who 
sins  either  through  ignorance  or  brutality,  against  the  generous 
nature  of  the  brute,  when  care  and  kindness  would  add  both  to 
his  utility,  and  profit. 


294  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

A  working  ox,  according  to  his  necessities,  should  be  as  well 
fed,  groomed,  and  sheltered,  as  a  horse,  and  his  labor  would  be 
as  much  better  for  it.  TVe  have  seen  many  a  well  kept  yoke 
of  oxen,  that  would  do  as  much  ordinary  farm  labor  as  a  pair 
of  horses,  with  much  less  expense  of  keep,  and  not  a  tithe  of  the 
wear  and  tear  of  gearing.  But  the  great  drawback  with  almost 
every  farmer,  where  himself  cannot  direct  the  labor,  is  the  diffi- 
culty of  finding  good  drivers.  As  the  ox  goes  without  a  rein,  he 
is  directed  by  the  word,  and  the  motion  of  the  whtp,  or  goad. 
He  is  slow  in  movement,  incapable  of  being  hurried,  yet,  when 
well  trained,  is  obedient  to  command,  and  always  equal  to  any 
reasonable  requirement.  It  requires  some  skill  to  drive  an  ox 
well,  as  it  does  a  horse,  and  as  long  as  brainless  men  exist,  who 
care  for  nothing  but  to  get  through  the  day,  and  take  in  their 
own  provender  while  at  service,  we  may  despair  of  much  reform 
in  the  management  of  ox  labor. 

REARING,    MATCHING,    AND    TRAINING. 

None  but  likely,  thrifty,  well  built  steers,  should  ever  be  kept 
for  working,  and  no  different  treatment  in  calf  hood  is  required 
than  with  other  young  farm  stock.  They  should  be  castrated  at 
any  time  not  exceeding  six  months  old,  to  give  them  a  truly  ox 
like  character  when  grown — a  stag  being  always  uncouth  in 
appearance,  and  less  saleable.  A  pair  of  steers,  intended  for 
matching,  should  be  as  near  alike  in  breed,  in  looks,  color,  tem- 
per, and  action,  as  possible,  as  these  qualities  add  much  to  their 
selling  value ;  and  uniformity  in  temper  and  action  make  them 
more  valuable  in  labor.  Training  may  be  commenced  at  any 
age,  after  six  months,  with  a  small  yoke ;  and  small  boys,  when 
they  take  a  fancy  to  such  work,  can  do  it  as  easily  as  a  grown 
man.  We  know  that  all  farmers  cannot  well  do  this  at  that 
early  age  of  the  calves,  but  where  circumstances  admit,  it  is  less 
labor  to  train  them  at  an  early  age  than  when  older.  They  are 
less  liable  to  injury,  and  more  tractable. 


WORKING    OXEN.  295 

With  older  steers,  at  the  age  of  two  or  three  years — and  they 
should  not  exceed  three — they  should  be  handled  separately,  and 
be  tied  side  by  side  in  a  stall,  or  under  a  shed,  if  possible,  and 
made  gentle.  The  yoke  should  be  first  put  upon  them  in  the 
stall,  that  they  may  become  accustomed  to  it,  and  know  what  it 
means;  or  if  oxen  of  suitable  size,  already  broke,  be  at  hand, 
they  may  be  yoked  and  gently  used  with  them.  When  once 
accustomed  to  the  yoke,  a  chain  may  be  hooked  into  its  ring,  and 
they  may  be  gently  driven  around  the  yard — gentleness,  and 
docility,  being  always  practiced  with  them.  We  have  seen  pro- 
fessed "steer  breakers,"  who  could  break  a  yoke  of  "wild  three 
year  olds"  in  a  day,  and  called  them  fit  to  work;  but  turn  them 
loose  for  a  day  or  two,  and  the  steers  forget  it  all,  and  are  as 
unbroken  as  ever.  Steady,  persistent  training  for  some  days,  is 
necessary  to  let  them  know  what  is  wanted  of  them,  and  gentle, 
every  day  labor  must  be  practiced  for  weeks  before  they  can  be 
trusted.  The  various  manipulations  of  guiding  them  to  the  right 
or  left,  and  backing,  must  be  managed  by  a  practiced  teamster, 
for  no  written  instructions  will  learn  a  raw  hand  to  break  a  yoke 
of  steers.  There  are  several  good  methods  to  do  this  work,  and 
every  "teamster"  is  apt  to  think  his  own  way  the  best. 

The  yoke  should  always  be  well  fitted  to  the  neck,  and  of  proper 
crook,  and  size — the  bows  of  proper  shape,  one  and  a  half  to  two 
and  a  quarter  inches  in  diameter,  according  to  the  size  of  the  steer, 
or  ox,  well  fitted  to  the  breast  and  shoulders,  and  every  thing  so 
arranged  as  to  work  easy,  and  permit  the  steer  to  give  his  full 
strength  in  a  pull.  The  same  care  and  judgment  should  be  exer- 
cised in  the  labor,  feeding,  watering,  and  cleaning  a  yoke  of  oxen, 
as  with  a  span  of  horses.  They  require  less  care,  indeed,  but 
what  care  they  do  need  should  be  as  freely  given,  and  it  will  be 
attended  with  quite  as  profitable  results.  A  team  of  well  grown, 
well  matched,  and  well  trained  oxen,  is  a  noble  sight,  and  every 
one  who  owns  them,  and  properly  values  them,  feels  an  honest 


296  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

pride  in  their  possession.  "When  he  no  longer  needs  their  labor, 
they  are  always  saleable  at  a  good  price.  An  ox  team  should 
never  be  overworked,  especially  when  young.  They  cannot 
endure  heat,  particularly  in  the  spring  of  the  year  and  hot  sum- 
mer weather,  so  well  as  The  horse,  and  their  work  in  those  seasons 
should  be  spared  in  the  middle  of  the  day.  At  five  to  six  years 
old  the  ox  is  in  his  prime,  and  so  continues  until  nine  or  ten ;  but 
he  seldom  feeds  so  well  after  passing  eight  years,  and  is  better  to 
be  turned  out  and  fatted  at  that  age,  or  earlier,  after  the  spring 
farm  work  is  over. 

As  to  the  best  kinds  for  working  oxen,  we  have  said  enough 
in  our  remarks  on  the  various  breeds,  in  previous  chapters.  Many 
excellent  work  steers  may  be  selected  from  the  native  cattle ;  but 
an  infusion  of  Deven,  or  Hereford  blood,  improves  them;  and 
where  great  size  and  extraordinary  power  is  required,  grade 
short-horns  frequently  make  patient,  honest  workers.  If  the 
farmer  wants  them  only  for  his  own  use,  so  that  the  pair  have 
size,  temper,  and  action  alike,  it  is  little  matter  what  be  the 
breed,  provided  they  be  of  good  form  and  substance.  They 
will  answer  well  his  own  purposes,  and  feed  off  profitably,  at  last. 
It  is  a  business  with  some  farmers,  where  working  oxen  are  in 
demand  and  much  used,  to  pick  up,  match,  and  break  steers  for 
sale,  and  when  they  have  a  taste  and  genius  for  it,  it  is  profita- 
ble, as  much  so,  perhaps,  as  any  other  commerce  in  cattle.  In 
such  vicinities,  breeding  steers,  for  that  purpose,  may  well  be 
worthy  of  attention. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

CATTLE  FOOD THE  GRASSES. 

THE  discussion  of  a  subject  so  simple  as  proper  food  for  cattle, 
may  be  thought  superfluous.  In  some  localities,  it  would  be  so. 
But  when  we  have  the  power,  in  most  cases,  to  measurably  con- 
trol both  our  summer  and  winter  forage,  it  is  worth  attention. 

The  most  natural  summer  food  for  neat  stock  of  all  kinds,  ig 
grass,  and  in  winter,  hay.  We  have  grasses  in  great  variety — 
both  natural,  and  cultivated.  The  natural  grasses  of  all  dry 
lands,  which  hold  a  firm  sod,  north  of  35°  latitude,  are  such  as 
cattle  like,  and  thrive  on ;  and  on  some  of  the  moister  lands,  not 
absolutely  swampy,  they  are  also  good.  Our  wild  prairie  lands, 
of  the  Western  States,  yield  several  kinds  of  native  grasses,  and 
some  of  them,  when  young,  or  in  their  prime,  are  of  great  excel- 
lence, both  in  their  fattening,  and  milk  producing  qualities.  All 
our  cleared  forest  lands,  of  any  fertility,  produce  a  spontaneous 
growth  of  pasture  grasses,  as  the  spear,  or  June  grass,  and  white 
clover,  those  being  their  usual  production,  and  more  or  less  inter- 
mixed with  occasional  patches,  when  moist,  of  fowl-meadow, 
and  red-top.  We  call  these  natural  grasses,  because  when  the 
land  is  free  from  the  plow,  whether  their  seeds  be  sown  or  not, 
they  naturally  work  in,  and  appear  indigenous  to  the  soil,  what- 
ever may  be  its  geological  formation.  How  the  seed,  to  produce 
them,  gets  there,  is  not  now  the  question.  At  all  events,  the 
grasses  grow.  They  are  our  best  pasture  grasses,  and  can 
13* 


298  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

scarcely  be  improved  when  well  established,  although  other  kinds 
may  assist  in  making  up  a  variety,  and  filling  the  surface  with 
a  compact,  well  rooted  turf. 

We  say  these  grasses  grow,  irrespective  of  the  geological  com- 
position of  the  soil.  They  do  so,  but  not  in  equal  luxuriance  in 
some  formations,  that  they  do  in  others.  For  instance :  In  strong 
limestone  soils  of  great  richness,  as  in  the  clayey  loams  of  some 
of  our  States,  the  June,  or  spear  grass,  by  its  luxuriance,  has 
taken  the  distinctive  name  of  "blue  grass."  Of  this,  there  are 
two  varieties,  classed  by  the  botanists  aspoapretensis,  and^joacom- 
pressa;  the  former,  deeper  in  color,  is  the  "blue  grass"  proper; 
the  latter,  lighter  in  shade,  and  somewhat  earlier  in  ripening,  is 
sometimes  called  "  green  grass,"  and  both  are  about  equally 
nutritious.  The  compressa  is  known  by  the  stalk  being  flat  at 
the  joints,  while  the  other  is  round.  So  marked  a  character  has 
the  poa  pretensis  taken  from  the  rich  limestone  soils  on  which  it 
luxuriates,  as  to  be,  by  many,  supposed  a  distinct  variety,  and 
frequently  called  "Kentucky"  blue  grass;  while  all  that  Ken- 
tucky has  done,  is  to  give  it  a  marked  superiority  of  growth, 
on  its  strong  limestone  land.  That  superior  growth  and  quality 
is  equally  given  by  all  soils,  of  the  same  distinctive  character,  in 
other  States,  or  Territories.  The  white  clover — trifolium  repens — 
is  almost  always  its  companion  in  the  more  northern  latitudes, 
and  only  in  less  amount  where  the  richer  quality  of  the  soil 
pushes  the  blue  grass  into  a  more  luxuriant  preponderance. 

Where  land  has  been  some  years  laid  down,  other  grasses 
work  in,  and  on  analyzing  the  products  of  an  acre  of  old  pasture, 
several  varieties  may  be  found,  all  nutritious;  but  the  poo's  are 
usually  the  best. 

These  various  grasses,  intermixed,  are  the  very  best  for  mak- 
ing either  milk,  or  beef.  They  seldom,  or  never  need  breaking 
up,  or  re-seeding  on  dry  lands,  and  as  a  rule,  the  older  the  pas- 
tures, the  better  and  more  nutritious  the  feed.  They  are  good 


CATTLE    FOOD.  299 

from  early  spring  to  late  autumn,  and  if  kept  ungrazed  during 
the  latter  summer  and  autumn,  where  the  ground  is  bare  of  snow, 
and  the  climate  mild,  make  an  excellent  winter  forage,  equal,  per- 
haps, to  the  best  of  hay. 

Beside  these,  there  are  varieties  of  local  grasses,  which  grow 
spontaneously  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  quite  nutritious 
in  substance,  and  on  which  cattle  thrive  well.  The  quality  of 
such  grasses  has  only  to  be  tested  by  use,  to  determine  the 
policy  of  retaining  them.  Timothy,  and  red  clover,  usually 
sown  together  for  heavy  crops,  make  palatable  pasturage  for  cat- 
tle, but  are  less  relished,  unless  when  young  and  fresh.  When 
closely  cut,  for  hay,  they  are  longer  in  making  a  new  growth  than 
the  pasture  grasses  we  have  described.  They  fail  in  making  a  close 
turf,  like  the  others,  but  add  to  the  variety  of  a  well  stocked  pas- 
ture, and,  to  a  certain  extent,  are  desirable.  So  it  is  with  the 
orchard  grass,  and  some  other  varieties,  that  are  sometimes  mixed 
with  them. 

Many  of  the  prairie  grasses  are  valuable  while  in  their  spring 
and  summer  growth.  There  are  none  whatever  on  which,  early 
in  the  season,  stock  thrive  so  rapidly  as  on  some  of  these.  "We 
have  known  instances  in  which  cattle,  actually  "on  the  lift,"  from 
their  wretched  winter  fare,  turned  upon  them  early  in  the  season, 
have  become  fair  beef  in  six  or  eight  weeks.  They  are  wonder- 
fully nutritious,  both  in  flesh,  and  milk.  But  the  difficulty  with 
these  grasses  is,  as  they  ripen,  they  grow  woody,  and  tough,  thus 
becoming  distasteful  to  the  cattle,  and  the  early  autumnal  frosts 
kill  them  utterly,  when  all  their  nutritive  quality  is  destroyed. 
By  close  and  continuous  feeding  from  year  to  year,  they  grad- 
ually die  out,  and  the  land  works  into  the  "tame"  grasses.  The 
plowing  and  thorough  cultivation  of  the  land,  destroys  the  wild 
grass  altogether,  and  then,  with  seeding,  other  and  better  kinds 
quickly  take  their  place.  "We  have  already  referred  to  the  native 
grasses  far  West,  and  South,  on  which  the  buffalo  ranges,  which 


300  AMERICAN*    CATTLE. 

may  become  of  immense  value  to  future  cattle  herds ;  but  of  them 
too  little  is,  as  yet  known,  to  speak  definitely. 

FULL    FEED    AND    WATER. 

For  the  greatest  benefit  to  grazing  stock,  the  pasturage  should 
always  be  abundant.  When  a  bullock,  or  cow,  has  to  work,  by 
continuously  ranging  over  a  broad  surface  to  glean  its  food,  they 
cannot  be  expected  to  get  fat,  or  yield  much  milk.  A  "full  bite," 
to  the  beast,  is  the  only  profitable  way  of  feeding.  Cattle  love 
rest.  Any  creature  should  be  able  to  fill  itself  in  two  or  three 
hours'  time,  and  then  lie  down  and  ruminate.  Water,  too, 
should  always  be  handy.  When  they  can  get  water  at  will,  cat- 
tle usually  drink  three,  or  four,  times  a  day,  when  at  pasture. 
Many  people  suppose  that  if  they  are  let  out  of  a  dry  pasture 
twice  a  day,  and  conducted  to  water,  that  is  sufficient.  Not  so. 
Cattle  have  little  forethought,  and  cannot,  as  men  do,  anticipate 
a  want  which  may  occur  an  hour  or  two  hence,  and  provide  for 
it  in  advance.  We  have  seen  a  herd  driven  out  in  the  early 
part  of  the  day  to  water,  and  many  of  them  would  not  touch  it, 
and  in  two  hours  afterward  they  would  be  lowing  about  the 
fences,  gates,  or  bars,  in  distress  for  water,  and  not  obtaining  it, 
they  suffered  throughout  the  day,  eating  little,  or  nothing,  until 
the  next  watering  hour  arrived,  and  then  drinking  so  inordinately 
as  to  injure  and  disarrange  all  their  digestion.  Men  may  say 
that  cattle  will  become  habituated  to  such  stated  watering,  by 
practice.  They  may,  to  some  extent;  but  any  one  who  will  try 
the  two  methods,  of  giving  them  water  at  will,  or  only  at  certain 
hours,  once  or  twice  a  day,  will  soon  perceive  the  difference  iu 
their  condition  of  flesh,  or  yield  of  milk. 

SHADE    IN    PASTURES. 

We  have  heard  from  experienced  and  successful  graziers  and 
dairymen,  different  opinions,  of  both  the  advantages  and  disad- 
vantages of  shade  in  pastures.  One  advocates  the  presence  of 


CATTLE    FOOD.  301 

trees,  either  singly,  or  in  groups,  under  which  the  cattle  can  lie, 
or  stand  when  at  rest,  thus  screening  them  from  the  heats  of  the 
sun,  besides  adding  to  their  thrift  and  enjoyment,  as  where  shade 
abounds,  there  the  cattle  gather,  and  enjoy  it.  The  other  would 
strip  every  tree  from  his  pasture  grounds,  contending  that  in  the 
heat  of  the  day,  when  the  grass  is  dryest,  and  most  nutritious, 
they  can  feed  heartily  and  more  to  their  benefit,  and  rest  at 
night — the  proper  time  for  it.  As  to  flies,  they  trouble  the  cattle 
less  in  sunshine  than  shade ;  the  cattle,  when  shade  is  in  the  field, 
lie  there  all  day,  and  feed  only  at  night  and  morning,  when  the 
grass  is  wet  with  dew;  it  is  then  "washy,"  and  less  nutritious 
than  when  dry  and  only  moistened  by  its  own  sap. 

"Whether  this  last  be  a  real,  or  only  a  fanciful  theory,  we  do 
not  decide.  The  cattle  themselves  being  judges,  we  should  call 
it  only  a  fancy,  for  it  is  certain  they  love  the  shade  during  exces- 
sive heats,  as  they  do  the  sun  in  excessive  cold. 

There  is  another  question  concerning  the  land,  however,  worthy 
of  consideration,  in  stripping  it  altogether  of  shade  trees.  They 
add  much  to  the  pastoral  beauty  of  the  landscape,  and  in  the 
estimation  of  most  men,  to  its  value.  Who,  of  any  taste  in  the 
attractions  of  a  fine  landed  estate,  would  permit  a  farm  to  be 
denuded  of  its  majestic  trees,  or  woody  clumps  of  shade,  for  the 
mere  fancy  that  his  herds  would  gain  a  few  more  pounds  of 
flesh,  in  their  summer  pasturage?  Scarce  one  in  a  hundred. 
No;  let  the  trees,  singly,  and  apart,  or  gracefully  grouped  in 
their  own  free  luxuriance  stand,  a  shelter  to  the  herds,  and  a 
pleasant  spectacle  to  their  possessor — a  "most  living  landscape" 
in  its  summer  repose. 

CHANGE    OF    PASTURE. 

This  is  also  a  subject  of  controversy.  Some  contend  that  it 
is  better  for  stock  to  have  frequent  change  from  stale  to  fresh 
feed  during  the  grazing  season.  Its  utility  will  depend  some- 
what upon  the  varieties  of  grass  which  the  pastures  contain 


302  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

and  the  convenience  of  the  proprietor.  Small  fields  are  more 
expensive  in  fences  than  larger  ones,  because  there  are  more  of 
them  to  build  and  keep  in  repair.  That  item,  therefore,  is  an 
inconvenience.  A  sudden  change  of  diet  with  cattle,  always,  to 
some  extent,  deranges  their  stomachs,  and  bowels.  Taken  from 
shorter,  or  dryer  grass,  and  put  on  to  flush  herbage,  is  apt  to 
scour  them,  and  while  under  such  operation,  the  fattening  beast 
loses  flesh,  or  at  least  does  not  gain  it,  and  the  cow  loses  in  her 
usual  flow  of  milk.  This  we  have  known  from  repeated  trials. 
Not  that  animals  should  not  be  changed  from  poor  feed  to  better ; 
but  whether,  in  the  small  fields  which  are  to  keep  them  through 
the  grazing  season,  and  with  an  abundance  of  feed,  it  is  not 
better  to  let  them  range  over  all  of  them  at  will,  and  enjoy  the 
whole  of  it  as  they  choose. 

We  incline  to  the  latter.  Cattle  are  quite  local  in  their  attach- 
ments. They  best  like  the  places  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 
They  also  like  a  variety  in  their  food.  Large  fields  usually  offer 
a  greater  variety  than  small  ones,  and  almost  every  day  they 
seek  that  variety.  For  twenty -five  years  past,  we  have  had  a 
pasture  of  more  than  a  hundred  acres  in  a  single  field,  in  which 
we  have  grazed  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep.  In  that  pasture  are 
different  elevations,  most  of  it  being  dry  upland,  covered  with 
blue  grass,  white  clover,  and  other  mixed  grasses;  some  lower 
grounds,  growing  red-top,  and  fowl-meadow;  some  lowland 
copses  of  wood,  and  undergrowth  of  bushes,  and  rank,  wild 
grasses  interspersed;  and  a  range  of  marsh  by  a  river  shore, 
covered  with  a  rank  growth  of  sedge  grass.  Almost  daily, 
throughout  the  season,  the  cattle  range  over  every  part  of  that 
field,  feeding  in  every  quarter  on  which  they  roam,  and  fre- 
quently leaving  the  highest,  sweetest  grass,  to  fill  themselves 
from  the  coarse,  and  what  we  would  deem  the  least  palatable, 
herbage  of  the  marsh,  or  woods.  It  is  certain  that  they  like 
this  variety,  or  they  would  not  indulge  in  it;  and  had  they  been 


CATTLE    FOOD.  303 

confined  to  either  alone,  would  have  hankered  after  the  other. 
We  admit  that  some  of  the  grass  where  cattle  continuously  feed, 
by  being  much  trodden  over  and  laid  upon,  becomes  soiled,  and 
distasteful  for  the  time,  but  the  next  rain  washes  it  off,  and  it 
becomes  palatable  as  ever.  Cattle,  in  their  tastes,  are  somewhat 
like  men,  and  as  those  accustomed  to  the  highest  luxuries,  like, 
occasionally,  a  lunch  of  brown  bread,  with  a  smoked  herring, 
and  partake  of  it  with  great  relish,  so  cattle,  from  the  choicest 
blue  grass  and  white  clover,  love  to  plunge  into  the  coarser 
grasses,  or  browse  the  green  leaves  from  the  tangled  brushwood. 
Our  impression  is,  that  the  experience  of  both  graziers  and  dairy- 
men is  growing  in  favor  of  the  larger  pastures  without  change, 
to  the  smaller  ones  with  frequent  alternations — provided  the 
grasses  be  equally  abundant. 

WINTER    FORAGE,   AND    CARE    OF    NEAT    STOCK. 

A  foreign  traveler,  accustomed  to  the  economical  methods  of 
feeding  and  caring  for  cattle  among  the  densely  populated  nations 
of  Europe,  would,  in  his  examinations  of  our  general  American 
ways  of  stock  feeding  in  winter,  suppose  us  to  be  the  most  neg- 
ligent, careless,  and  wasteful  people  on  earth.  And  he  would 
not  be  far  out  of  the  way — in  that  particular. 

It  is  true,  we  have  a  great  many  painstaking,  economical 
farmers  among  us,  who  not  only  raise  good  cattle,  but  take  pains 
to  secure  proper  forage  for  them,  feed  them  enough  of  it,  and 
provide  for  their  comfort  by  way  of  shelter,  whenever  needed. 
In  contrast  to  them,  however,  the  common  rule,  particularly  in 
the  newer  States,  is  quite  the  reverse.  A  quantity,  more  or  less, 
of  bad  conditioned  hay,  corn  fodder,  or  straw,  is  stacked  upon 
the  premises,  around  barns,  or  sheds,  and  in  a  great  many  cases, 
in  the  yards,  or  fields  of  the  farm,  without  artificial  shelter  of 
any  kind.  To  these  stacks  the  stock  are  driven,  when  the  snows, 
or  storms  of  approaching  winter  compel  them  to  be  fed.  The 


304  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

cattle  come  up  in  such  condition  as  they  may  happen  to  be  from 
the  fullness,  or  scantiness  of  the  summer  and  fall  pastures,  young, 
and  old,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent  mixed  together.  The  fodder 
is  pitched  from  the  stacks,  and  strewn  over  the  yards,  or  fields — 
or  what  is  worse,  the  stacks  themselves  left  to  be  foraged  upon 
by  the  cattle  running  loose  around  them.  Much  of  the  food  is 
trampled  into  the  mud,  or  slush  of  snow  and  water  lying  around, 
and  altogether  lost.  Some  of  it  is  eaten  by  the  ravenous  animals, 
as  they  hunch,  hook,  and  drive  each  other  away  from  a  cleaner 
morsel  before  them,  while  all  the  time  they  are  subjected  to  the 
changes,  vicissitudes,  and  severities  of  every  storm  that  occurs, 
through  a  tedious  winter  of  several  months.  The  consequence 
of  all  this  is,  that  through  irregularity  of  feeding,  and  careless- 
ness in  distributing  their  food,  and  want  of  shelter,  the  cattle 
lose  flesh  every  day,  and  be  their  condition  what  it  may  on 
coming  into  winter  quarters,  they  go  out  "spring  poor,"  or  "on 
the  lift,"  with  no  growth  whatever  in  the  young  stock,  and  just 
about  strength  enough  in  such  as  have  survived  their  wretched 
poverty  of  condition,  to  crawl  out  into  their  spring  pastures ! 

This  may  be  thought  an  overdrawn  statement;  but  it  is  no 
exaggeration  of  numberless  instances  which  have  occurred  under 
our  own  eye.  Surely  no  practice  can  be  worse  than  this  for 
the  welfare  and  comfort  of  the  poor  suffering  cattle,  nor  for 
the  profit  of  the  farmer.  There  is  no  profit  in  it.  Land  so 
stocked  and  managed,  pays  little,  or  nothing,  and  cattle  so 
utterly  neglected  can  be  of  little  value.  No  goodness  of  quality 
can  be  expected  in  them,  while  disease,  arising  from  neglect  and 
poverty,  is  always  making  inroads  on  their  numbers.  Every 
spring,  our  cattle  markets  are  filled  with  the  wretched  rubbish 
driven  from  such  herds.  We  have  seen  thousands  of  them 
annually,  at  our  large  railway  cattle  yards,  and  the  wonder  is 
that  they  find  purchasers  at  any  price  above  absolute  ruin  to 
their  owners. 


CATTLE    FOOD.  305 

"We  have  only  touched  upon  this  sorry  phase  of  cattle  wintei- 
ing,  to  condemn  it  as  both  cruel  to  the  beasts,  and  unprofitable 
to  the  keepers  of  them. 

WHAT    WINTER    FEEDING    AND    CARE    OF    STOCK    SHOULD    BE. 

Good  hay  and  plenty  of  it,  is,  no  doubt,  the  most  available  and 
convenient  winter  feed  for  stock  cattle,  in  our  hay  producing 
States.  For  fattening  beef,  and  making  milk,  other  foods  are  to 
be  added;  but  those  are  not  now  in  the  exact  order  of  discussion. 
Hay,  too,  in  a  grass  country,  is  altogether  the  cheapest.  In  the 
wide  Indian  corn  regions  of  the  South  and  West,  where  that 
grain  is  largely  raised,  and  the  stalks  properly  cured,  they  furnish 
an  amount  of  good  forage;  and  clean,  bright  straw,  when  neces- 
sity compels  it,  is  a  rather  poor  substitute  for  either;  but  cattle 
will  scarce  hold  their  own  upon  straw  alone,  much  less  thrive. 
Some  farmers  believe,  or  act  as  though  they  do,  that  if  a  creature 
can  get  through  to  its  spring  pasture,  with  half  as  much  flesh  on 
its  bones  as  it  carried  into  winter  quarters,  it  is  doing  well. 
That  is  a  much  mistaken  idea,  for  in  such  condition,  its  winter 
growth  is  lost,  and  it  takes  half  the  summer  to  recover  it. 
There  is  no  truer  adage,  than  that  "a  beast  well  summered,  is 
half  wintered;  and  well  wintered,  is  half  summered." 

The  hay  most  generally  preferred  for  that  puropse  is  timothy, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  red  clover  in  it — if  cut  in  the  right  time — 
which,  in  timothy,  is  just  at  coming  into  its  blue,  or  first  bloom, 
and  before  the  succeeding  white  bloom  passes.  In  the  first 
stage,  the  seed  is  in  its  milk,  and  the  stalks  and  leaves  in  their 
full  succulence.  It  then  requires  more  drying  in  the  field  after 
being  cut,  and  is  better  for  milk  cows,  calves,  and  young  stock. 
In  the  white  bloom,  the  seed  is  glazing  and  ripening;  the  stalks 
and  leaves  are  at  full  maturity ;  the  sap  is  concentrated,  and  the 
grass  has  more  substance,  yet  quite  as  profitable  for  steers,  and 
dry  cows.  When  fully  ripe,  and  the  seed  begins  to  fall,  the  grass 


306  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

becomes  hard,  and  woody,  and  loses  a  part  of  its  nutritive,  as 
well  as  palatable  quality.  Still,  if  delayed  cutting  until  that 
time,  it  is  valuable,  and  should  not  be  lost.  Blue  grass,  white 
clover,  and  red-top,  if  cut  before  their  seeds  ripen,  make  quite  a? 
good  cattle  hay  as  timothy.  Fowl-meadow,  bent,  and  orchard 
grasses,  make  quite  tolerable  stock  hay.  As  a  rule,  all  grasses 
should  be  cut  before  going  out  of  bloom,  and  well,  but  not  too 
much  cured.  Much  hay  is  spoiled  by  over  drying.  When  early 
cut,  the  hay  should  be  thoroughly  wilted,  and  then  thrown  into 
winrow,  or  cocked,  where,  according  to  the  weather,  it  may 
remain  for  twenty-four  to  thirty-six  hours.  It  will  then  suffi- 
ciently cure  for  housing,  and  the  sooner  it  is  put  in  barn,  or  stack, 
or  barrack,  the  better.  Later  cut  hay  will  cure  more  readily, 
and  may  oftentimes,  when  cut  in  the  morning,  be  carried  in 
during  the  afternoon.  The  judgment  of  the  farmer  must  regu- 
late all  this.  Salting  hay,  to  assist  in  the  curing,  we  think  of  no 
account,  and  never  practice  it,  as  it  does  little  to  preserve  green 
hay,  without  putting  on  so  much  as  to  spoil  it  for  fodder.  We 
prefer  giving  salt  to  the  stock,  by  itself,  at  the  proper  times,  than 
to  put  it  in  their  hay.  Field  grown  corn  fodder,  to  be  at  its 
best,  should  be  cut  up  and  shocked  when  the  grain  is  fairly 
glazed,  so  as  to  ripen  without  molding.  It  is  then  fresh,  succu- 
lent, and  nutritive.  Every  frost,  while  standing  uncut  in  the 
field,  injures  the  stalks  as  fodder;  and  although  it  makes  a  tol- 
erable winter  forage,  when  allowing  the  stock  to  gather  it  for 
themselves,  half  its  nutriment  is  gone.  But,  circumstances  often 
compel  this  practice  of  so  leaving  it,  and  it  need  not  be  further 
discussed. 

WINTER  FEEDING,  BARNS,  AND  SHEDS. 

Living  in  the  latitude  of  43°  north,  we  believe  in  barns,  and 
shods,  for  all  kinds  of  farm  stock  alike;  and  so  we  would  if  in 
tho  latitude  of  37°, — anywhere,  in  fact,  where  snow  lies  on  the 
ground  for  three  davs  at  a  time,  and  the  Fahrenheit  thermometer 


CATTLE   FOOD.  307 

holds,  for  any  length  of  time,  as  low  as  20°  above  zero.  Sudden 
alternations  of  heat  and  cold  affect  cattle  as  they  do  men, — not 
to  the  same  extent  as  they  do  the  latter,  but  measurably  so. 
Cattle  eat  much  more  in  a  low  temperature  than  a  high  one,  and 
are  subject  to  take  cold  with  sudden  changes  of  the  weather. 
Fat  cattle  are  less  affected  by  sudden  changes  of  weather  than 
lean  ones,  but  those  changes  do  affect  them  more  than  we  are 
usually  aware.  In  view  of  these  facts,  we  consider  it  sound 
economy  for  every  cattle  breeder,  grazier,  and  stall-feeder,  to  pro- 
vide good  barns,  stables,  and  sheds  for  the  winter  keeping  and 
feeding  of  his  stock.  The  arrangement  of  these  is  a  branch 
rather  foreign  to  our  general  subject,  and  may  better  belong  to 
farm  architecture  than  this;  embracing  also  the  management  of 
manures,  and  various  other  matters  belonging  to  the  department 
of  farm  husbandry;  yet,  we  may  safely  give  a  few  hints  con- 
cerning them. 

We  believe  that  in  any  part  of  the  country  where  prepared 
winter  forage  is  required  for  farm  stock,  it  will  pay  the  farmer 
for  building  barns,  stables,  and  sheds  for  his  store  cattle  during 
the  winter.  For  dairy  cows,  tight  barns  and  stables  are  indis- 
pensable everywhere,  and  we  are  happy  to  say  that  the  latter 
are  almost  everywhere  found  in  well  managed  dairies.  We 
believe  it  sound  economy  to  provide  such  shelters.  In  the 
barns,  aside  from  storing  the  fodder  and  grain,  the  stables  may 
be  cheaply  arranged,  with  sufficient  mangers  for  feeding.  Two 
cattle  may  stand  in  a  stall,  six  to  seven  feet  wide,  according  to 
their  size,  and  each  animal  tied  to  his  own  side  of  it,  with  space 
for  the  feeder  to  go  between;  or  stanchels,  without  partitions, 
may  be  used,  if  preferred.  The  food  may  be  thrown  into  the 
manger  in  front,  and  the  corn  stalks,  as  drawn  in  from  the  field, 
cut  off  just  above  the  ear.  (The  stalk,  below  the  ear,  is  worthless 
for  fodder.)  This  cutting  may  be  rapidly  done  by  a  knife,  some- 
tiling  like  a  butcher's  cleaver,  though  lighter,  by  laying  the 


308  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

stalks  on  a  block,  or  better,  in  a  cutting  machine.  The  beasts 
may  be  bedded  with  straw,  and  quantities  of  the  best  manure 
made.  Thus  the  cattle  are  kept  snug,  and  warm,  while  in  good 
weather  they  can  range  in  the  yards  through  a  part  of  the  day, 
and  take  their  water  at  pleasure. 

Sheds  may  be  built  eight,  ten,  or  twelve  feet  high,  with  good 
mangers  in  the  rear,  for  their  hay,  or  corn  fodder,  and  open  in 
front,  to  go  out  and  in  at  pleasure.  So  with  calves,  only  their 
accommodations  should  be  closer,  and  warmer.  We  are  aware 
that  long  practice,  cheap  lands,  and  low  prices  for  grain,  have  led 
the  mass  of  our  Western  farmers  to  think  all  this  preparation 
useless;  but  they  will  come  to  it  at  last,  and  wonder  they  had 
not  known  it  before.  Thrift  in  their  stock,  and  a  saving  in  the 
expenditure  of  their  forage,  will  soon  solve  the  question  of  its 
superior  economy,  as  also  in  the  lightened  labor  of  taking  care  of 
them,  and  the  retention  of  stores  of  manure,  which  is  every- 
where valuable,  though  not  now  appreciated.  If,  to  the  housing 
of  their  cattle,  sufficient  roofing  to  protect  their  stores  of  hay, 
and  grain,  is  added,  an  equal  advantage  will  be  found  in  it. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

SUMMER    FOOD    FOR    DAIRY    COWS. 

EVERY  owner,  or  keeper  of  a  cow  for  milk  purposes,  wants  a 
good  one.  At  least,  that  is  what  they  inquire  for,  when  purchas- 
ing her  for  either  family  or  dairy  use — one  yielding  a  large  quan- 
tity of  rich  milk,  good  in  creamy  quality.  The  possession  of 
such  a  cow  accomplished,  the  owner  has  a  fair  start,  so  far  as  the 
capital  invested  in  the  creature  herself  is  concerned.  But  there 
is  another  item  quite  as  important  connected  with  the  product 
to  be  obtained  from  her;  and  that  is,  her  food. 

Let  the  milk-producing  faculties  of  the  cow  be  ever  so  good, 
those  faculties  will  fail  if  the  requisite  food,  both  in  quality,  and 
quantity,  be  withheld  from  her.  The  manufacturer  or  machinist 
may  have  the  best  propelling  power  in  the  world  with  which  to 
work  his  machinery,  but  if  he  have  a  scant  supply  of  water  with 
which  to  drive  his  wheel,  or  is  short  of  fuel  to  make  the  required 
amount  of  steam  for  his  engine,  his  power  in  both  cases  fails, 
and  a  portion  of  his  capital  expended  in  the  construction  of  his 
machinery  is  lost.  It  is  so  with  the  cow.  She  may  be  so  ana- 
tomically and  physiologically  constituted,  as  to  yield  the  greatest 
possible  production  of  milk,  of  which  her  nature  is  capable, 
but  to  obtain  that  production  an  abundance  of  the  proper  food 
must  be  given. 

The  cow  is  simply  a  piece  of  animal  machinery,  composed  of 
stomach,  lungs,  viscera,  milk  secretions  and  udder,  so  far  as  her 
dairv  quality  is  concerned,  and  that  machinery  will  not  work  to 


310  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

its  full  power,  without  the  necessary  food  and  care  to  keep  it  in 
action.  We  are  satisfied  that  one-fourth  to.  one-half  the  profit 
•which  might  be  drawn  from  our  American  cows,  is  annually  lost 
to  their  keepers  by  a  want  of  the  necessary  quantity,  and  the 
proper  quality,  of  food  which  should  be  given  to  them,  and  con- 
sequently a  considerable  portion  of  the  capital  invested  in  their 
purchase,  or  value,  is  thus  unproductive;  and  that  only  from  the 
short  supply  of  food,  and  want  of  care  given  to  them.  A  good 
family,  or  dairy  cow,  without  regard  to  her  breed,  anywhere  in 
the  United  States,  and  at  any  time,  is  worth  fifty,  to  seventy- 
five  dollars.  Such  a  cow  will  produce  600  to  800  gallons  of 
milk,  or  200  to  250  pounds  of  butter,  or  500  to  600  pounds  of 
cheese  in  a  year,  and  possibly  more — if  properly  fed;  or,  she 
may  produce  but  half  those  quantities  of  each,  or  either,  if 
scantily  fed.  In  both  cases,  the  original  cost,  or  value  of  the 
cow  is  the  same ;  the  care  is,  or  should  be,  nearly  the  same,  while 
all  the  loss  in  her  production  is  caused  by  the  inadequacy  of  her 
food,  a  full  supply  of  which  would  be  but  a  partial  percentage 
added  to  the  cost  of  poor  feeding.  This  we  think  a  fair  state- 
ment. 

Now  what  shall  that  food  be?  Fresh,  succulent  grass  of  good 
quality,  and  as  much  of  it  as  her  digestive  powers  will  consume 
during  the  grazing  season,  is  the  readiest  and  most  natural  food 
of  the  cow,  giving  her  not  only  the  most  nutriment,  but  produc- 
ing the  best  milk.  Therefore  she  should  have  it  in  unstinted 
abundance.  "When  at  pasture,  she  should  not  toil  for  her  food. 
She  should  have  it  within  easy  reach,  with  good  water  always 
at  hand.  No  matter  how  active  her  breed,  or  habits,  the  easier 
she  obtains  her  food,  with  abundant  time  for  rest,  the  more 
abundant  will  be  her  yield  of  milk,  and  the  greater  will  be  the 
quantity  of  cheese,  or  butter,  she  will  make.  The  judgment  of 
her  keeper,  will  determine  when  the  pastures  fail  in  their  supply 
of  grass,  and  then  other  food,  as  an  equivalent,  must  be  given. 


SUMMER  FOOD  FOB  DAIBY  COWS.  311 

Fresh  growing  grass  gives  quantity  of  milk;  that  which  is 
riper  and  dryer  gives  better  quality,  or  more  richness,  and  per- 
haps an  equal  quantity  of  butter,  or  cheese,  from  a  less  amount 
of  milk.  The  particular  state  of  the  grass,  whether  in  its  most 
sappy,  or  succulent,  or  in  its  dryer,  or  more  matured  condition, 
so  that  the  cow  have  enouyli  of  it,  is  of  less  consequence  to  the 
cheese  and  butter  dairyman;  but  the  sale-milk  dairyman  must 
supply  the  succulence  wanting  in  the  dryer  grasses.  This  must 
be  made  up  in  other  material,  and  also,  in  short  pasturage,  to  the 
other  class  of  dairies,  under  the  head  of 


To  many  old-fashioned  cow  keepers,  and  dairymen,  who  have 
never  practiced  any  thing  but  the  old  jog-trot  way  of  their 
fathers,  in  the  common  way  of  pasturing  for  summer  food,  and 
hay  feeding  at  the  mangers,  or  stacks,  in  winter,  this  term  may 
be  startling,  as  involving  an  extra  outlay  of  capital  and  labor  alto- 
gether unwarranted.  If  so,  they  may  as  well  abandon  the  busi- 
ness at  once,  if  they  intend  to  compete  with  the  more  enterpris- 
ing dairymen  of  these  advancing  times,  so  far  as  making  the  most 
profit  out  of  their  vocation  is  concerned.  The  old  hum-drum 
idea  of  having  their  work  half  done,  and  in  the  slip-shod,  slat- 
ternly way  of  past  generations,  must  be  ignored,  and  a  new 
method  introduced.  A  tidier  fashion  must  be  adopted,  and  more- 
skill  introduced,  as  well  in  feeding  the  cows  as  in  manipulating 
the  milk  into  butter  and  cheese.  The  whole  process  of  keeping 
the  cows,  milking,  and  manufacturing  it  into  marketable  com- 
modities, mus.t  be  as  thoroughly  improved  as  that  of  making  cloth 
by  modern  machinery,  over  the  old  way  of  hand-carding,  spin- 
ning, and  weaving  cloth  for  household  uses;  and  they  who  are 
unwilling  to  adopt  these  better  ways,  had  best  at  once  retire  from 
the  business,  or  be  content  to  accept  the  meagre  gains  which  their 
inferior  articles,  as  well  as  lack  of  enterprise  will  give. 


312  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

The  term  "soiling,"  is  applied  to  artificial  feeding,  when  the 
pastures  fail.  To  manage  this  department  properly,  due  prepa 
ration  must  be  made  for  enclosing  the  cows  in  yards,  sheds  or 
stables,  while  taking  their  prepared  food,  as  well  as  permitting 
them  to  have  ample  range  in  a  larger  enclosure  near  by,  that 
they  may  have  plenty  of  air  and  exercise  in  dry  weather.  No 
better  arrangement  need  be  made  than  to  use  the  winter  stables 
for  feeding  purposes,  when  soiling,  as  the  cows  should  always  be 
secured  in  their  stalls,  morning  and  night,  for  milking,  through- 
out the  dairy  season.  At  these  times  they  can  be  fed.  Open, 
airy  sheds,  with  proper  racks  or  mangers,  can  also  be  used  for 
the  purpose.  When  milked  and  fed,  they  should  always,  during 
the  warm  season,  be  turned  out  to  enjoy  the  fresher  and  cooler 
air,  as  the  stables,  even  if  well  ventilated,  are  sometimes  too 
warm  for  them.  At  noon,  or  at  other  times  also, — for  they 
require  feeding  at  least  three  times  a  day,  and  four  or  five  times, 
even,  may  not  be  too  much — they  can  be  turned  in  to  receive 
their  regular  mid-day  rations.  "Water,  of  course,  they  are  to 
receive  at  will,  outside,  if  not  furnished  within. 

This  mode  of  feeding  is  indispensable,  when  a  full  flow  of  milk 
is  required  throughout  the  season,  and  whenever  the  pastures 
fail.  It  will  pay,  too,  in  the  increased  products  of  the  dairy. 
There  is  no  doubt  of  its  economy,  also,  with  all  kinds  of  cattle, 
•where  land  is  valuable,  as  one-third  to  one-half  the  same  area  of 
ground,  in  the  same  condition  of  fertility,  will  yield  an  equal 
quantity  of  forage,  to  that  fed  off  by  the  usual  mode  of  grazing. 
That  is  to  say:  one  acre  of  land,  well  cultivated  in  good  soiling 
crops,  will  yield  as  much  nutritive  food  for  the  cow,  as  two  or 
three  common  acres  will  yield  in  pasture. 

For  soiling  purposes,  ample  preparation  must  be  made  in  the 
spring,  that  when  the  pastures  fail,  if  fail  they  do  in  any  part  of 
the  grazing  season,  they  may  be  readily  resorted  to,  and  if  not 


SOILING.  313 

needed,  the  forage  may  be  secured  at  its  proper  time  of  harvest- 
ing, for  winter  consumption. 

THE   PBOPER   AND    BEST    SOILING    CHOPS, 

We  name  in  the  order  of  their  coming  in  use,  viz.:  Fall  sowed 
rye ;  red  clover ;  orchard  grass  ;  blue,  or  June  grass ;  timothy ; 
red-top;  early  sowed  oats;  millet,  or  Hungarian  grass;  Indian 
corn,  sown  either  broadcast,  or  in  drills — the  latter  way  the 
better.  The  grains  and  grasses  may  be  cut  at  any  season  when 
necessary,  but  are  most  nutritious  when  just  coming  into  bloom, 
being  then  in  full  sap  and  succulence.  After  cutting,  they  should 
lie  a  few  hours  before  feeding,  so  that  they  be  partially  wilted — 
not  dried.  Their  watery  particles  are  then  more  consolidated,  and 
will  not  become  too  washy  in  the  stomach  and  intestines  of  the 
cow.  The  Indian  corn  may  be  used  at  any  time  after  it  has 
attained  a  growth  of  three  or  four  feet  in  height,  but  is  best 
when  in  the  tassel,  and  silk,  and  the  ear  is  forming.  It  should 
be  cut  close  to  the  root,  as  then  every  part  of  the  stalk  is  sweet 
and  tender. 

THE   BEST   KIND    OF    CORN   FOR   SOILING. 

We  have  tried  them  all,  from  the  tall  "gourd  seed"  of  the 
South  and  West,  to  the  "Canada,"  and  "Nantucket"  small  yel- 
low "flint,"  and  the  garden  sweet  corn  commonly  cultivated  in 
gardens  for  the  table.  Either  of  the  common  field  growing 
varieties  are  good.  The  gourd  seed  is  coarser  in  the  stalk,  and 
when  grown  to  tasselling,  the  stem  below  the  ear  is  larger,  more 
woody  in  its  fibre,  and  not  so  palatable  or  nutritious  as  the 
smaller  varieties.  For  that  reason  we  prefer  the  latter,  as  they 
can  be  cut  close  to  the  root,  their  smaller,  and  less  woody  fibre 
being  better  liked  by  the  animals  fed  upon  it. 

But  by  far  the  best  variety  is  the  sweet  corn  of  the  gardens. 
We  have  thoroughly  tried  it  and  know  the  fact.  The  stalk,  from 
the  ground  upwards,  is  more  nutritious,  and  as  much  sweeter  to 
14 


314  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

the  taste  of  cattle,  as  the  grain  is  to  the  human  palate  when 
cooked  for  the  table.  Even  after  the  ears  are  plucked  for  table 
use,  if  suffered  to  grow  so  long,  cows  will  eat  the  entire  stalk 
when  cut  close  to  the  roots,  as  we  have  often  tried.  Swine, 
so  fed,  will  eat  the  stalk  entire,  greatly  to  their  benefit,  while 
with  other  varieties,  they  seldom  eat  anything  below  the  setting 
of  the  ear.  The  sweet  corn  is  as  easily  raised  as  the  others;  the 
seed,  too,  is  easily  produced,  and  with  no  more  expense  than  the 
common  field  kinds. 

If  a  trifle  of  salt  be  sprinkled  on  each  mess,  as  fed,  it  will  be 
better.  Give  the  cows  all  the  food  they  will  eat.  If  the  green 
food  be  too  loose  in  its  action  on  the  stomach  of  the  cattle,  a 
little  mixture  of  finely  cut  hay  or  straw  with  it,  will  correct  the 
difficulty.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  stables  should 
be  cleaned  night  and  morning,  thoroughly  ventilated,  and  every 
thing  kept  scrupulously  neat  as  when  the  cows  are  at  pasture. 
A  good  plan,  when  cows  are  soiling,  is  to  turn  them,  when  not 
feeding,  into  an  adjacent,  well  fenced,  mowing  field,  where  the 
hay  crop  has  been  gathered,  if  in  season,  or  on  another  field 
where  their  droppings  may  be  useful  to  enrich  it  for  a  coming 
crop,  thus  saving  much  labor  in  removing  their  manure  other- 
wise made  in  the  barn,  or  feeding  yards. 

The  system  of  soiling  has  long  been  practiced  in  Britain,  and 
on  the  European  continent,  particularly  in  the  neighborhood  of 
large  cities,  for  milk  dairies,  and  found  to  be  the  most  profitable 
mode  of  summer  feeding.  Lands,  for  that  purpose,  when  advan- 
tageously located,  frequently  rent  for  $25  to  $75  an  acre  for  tho 
season.  It  is  becoming  much  practiced  near  our  own  larger 
American  cities,  where  land  is  high  in  value,  and  proximity  to 
a  good  milk  market  important.  It  will  also  tell  equally  well  in 
our  cheese  and  butter  dairies,  where  a  continuous  full  flow  of 
milk  is  necessary.  The  labor  of  the  soiling  process,  is  not  greater 
than  that  of  driving  back  and  forth  to  pasture,  the  repair  offences, 


SOILING.  315 

and  the  interest  on  their  cost.  "With  lean  pastures,  and  a  short 
supply  of  milk,  the  income  from  the  cow  is  partially  lost,  while 
the  outlay  for  all  the  dairy  expenses  is  the  same.  Soiling  is, 
therefore,  a  necessity,  in  most  seasons,  to  a  profitable  dairy. 

Since  writing  the  foregoing,  at  our  request  we  have  received 
from  Mr.  E.  W.  Stewart,  of  North  Evans,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.,  a 
most  valuable  article  on  the  summer  soiling  of  stock.  We  con- 
sider it  so  admirable,  (although  it  embraces  some  items  incidental 
to  the  main  one  under  consideration,  yet  closely  allied  to  it,  and 
well  worthy  of  study  by  the  dairyman,  and  also  the  common 
stock  farmer,)  that  we  insert  it  in  full.  We  need  hardly  add, 
that  Mr.  S.  has. proved  himself,  although  for  many  years  practic- 
ing one  of  the  liberal  professions,  a  thrifty  and  excellent  farmer. 

So  important  a  branch  of  our  dairy  economy  needs  all  the 
light  which  we  can  throw  upon  it. 

"One  of  the  most  difficult  problems  connected  with  the  agri 
culture  of  the  older  settled  States,  is,  how  to  keep  the  soil  from 
exhaustion?  And  any  system  that  promises  well,  in  this  direc- 
tion, should  be  carefully  examined.  The  old  proverb,  '  No  cattle 
no  manure,  no  manure  no  crops,'  applies  here  with  great  force. 
If  soiling,  or  cutting  and  feeding  green  food  in  summer,  enables 
tho  feeder  to  maintain,  in  full  condition,  more  animals  on  the 
same  space  of  ground  than  pasturing,  then  it  certainly  affords 
him  more  manure  to  return  to  his  soil,  and  so  far,  makes  the 
future  prospect  of  fertility  more  cheering.  The  writer  has  prac- 
ticed tho  soiling  system  for  over  ten  years,  and  is  desirous  to 
present  all  its  strong  points  to  his  fellow  farmers.  He  began 
by  soiling  his  horses,  and  found  the  saving  so  important,  and  the 
convenience  so  great,  that  the  next  season  he  experimented  with 
his  cows  and  colts  likewise.  Let  us  first  detail  some 

EXPERIMENTS. 

"Three  experiments  were  tried  by  the  writer,  in  three  different 
seasons,  to  determine  how  long  a  certain  number  of  animals 


316  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

could  be  kept  on  forty  rods,  or  one-quarter  of  an  acre  of  ground. 
Let  it  be  premised  that  the  soil  is  a  strong  clay,  put  in  fine  con- 
dition after  twenty  years  of  bad  farming — the  crop  heavy  clover, 
just  coming  into  blossom.  On  the  first  experiment,  seven  cows 
and  four  horses,  equal  to  twelve  cows,  were  fed  fifteen  days. 
On  the  second  experiment,  six  cows  and  five  horses  were  fed 
fourteen  days,  and  on  the  third,  eleven  cows  were  fed  sixteen 
days ;  in  each  case  upon  one  cutting  of  clover,  on  forty  rods  of 
ground.  It  will  be  perceived,  that  in  each  instance,  it  was  equal 
to  keeping  one  cow  from  one  hundred  and  sixty-eight  to  one 
hundred  and  eighty  days,  or  about  equivalent  to  the  pasturing 
season  for  one  cow.  It  is  admitted  that  these  crops  were  much 
above  an  average,  and  that  forty  rods  of  ground  could  not  be 
regarded  as  a  sufficient  allowance  to  a  cow  for  a  season,  unless 
the  land  is  in  fine  condition,  and  the  crop  a  maximum.* 

"Another  and  larger  experiment  was  tried  in  the  summer  of 
1862,  when  twenty  steers,  four  years  old,  seven  cows  and  six 
work  horses,  equal  to  thirty -five  cows,  were  soiled  from  the  20th 
of  May  to  the  1st  of  December.  No  measurement  of  the  exact 
amount  of  land  cut  for  soiling,  was  made,  but  one  hundred  acres 
were  occupied  as  follows:  Ninety  acres  in  timothy  grass,  five 
acres  in  timothy  and  clover,  two  acres  in  clover,  one  acre  in  oats, 
and  two  acres  in  sown  corn.  Only  about  four  acres  of  this  hun- 
dred were  in  extra  condition,  and  fifty  in  poor  condition.  First, 
the  two  acres  of  clover  were  fed,  then  the  five  acres  of  clover 
and  timothy,  next  the  acre  of  oats,  then  timothy  until  it  became 
too  ripe,  next  the  two  acres  of  corn,  and  lastly,  the  second  and 
third  cuttings  of  clover.  In  short,  they  were  fed  from  this  hun- 
dred acres,  for  six  months  and  ten  days,  with  a  surplus  of  sixtv- 
five  tons  of  hay,  which  were  sold  for  $972,  Now,  had  these 
animals  been  pastured  upon  this  hundred  acres,  nothing  would 

*  On  the  best  of  Western  grazing  lands,  if  an  acre  will  feed  a  bullock  through  the 
season,  it  is  considered  as  remarkably  good. — L.  F.  A. 


SOILING.  3 1 7 

have  remained,  and  the  food  would  have  been  insufficient  in  the 
dryest  part  of  the  season.  These  steers  averaged  1,100  pounds 
per  head,  and  were  good  light  beef  cattle,  being  then  worth  only" 
three  cents  per  pound,  on  foot,  and  cows  at  that  time  being 
low,  the  $972  for  which  the  surplus  was  sold,  would  have  pur- 
chased the  twenty-seven  head  of  cattle,  and  one  of  the  horses. 
This  latter  circumstance  is  mentioned  to  show  how  disastrous,  in 
this  particular  case,  would  have  been  the  results  of  pasturing. 
But  it  may  be  said  this  case  would,  perhaps,  stand  very  differ- 
ently if  the  labor  account  were  stated  I  This  point  was  particu- 
larly cared  for  in  the  experiment.  It  was  found  that  it  took 
three  men,  two  hours  each  day,  to  do  the  labor  of  cutting  for, 
and  feeding  these  animals.  Wages  at  that  time  being  only  $12 
per  month  and  board,  the  whole  labor  account,  including  board, 
was  only  $65.  This  included  all,  except  the  use  of  a  horse  to 
mow  and-  haul  in  the  grass.  We  will  also  deduct  the  expense 
of  cutting  and  putting  in  barn,  the  sixty-five  tons  of  hay,  say 
$1.25  per  ton,  or  $71.25,  to  which  add  the  $65  for  labor  of 
feeding,  and  you  have  $136.25,  which,  deducted  from  the  $972, 
shows  $835.75  as  the  net  profit  of  this  soiling  experiment.  But 
this  is  not  the  full  statement  of  the  profits,  as  there  were  one 
hundred  loads  of  manure  saved,  and  in  the  best  condition,  under 
cover,  worth  $100  more.  And  had  the  land  all  been  in  good 
condition,  the  surplus  would  have  been  double.  To  us,  this 
experiment  was  conclusive,  as  to  the  profits  of  soiling. 

CONDITION    OF    THE    ANIMALS    SOILED. 

"The  next  point  to  be  considered,  is  the  comparative  condition 
of  the  animal,  as  soiled  or  pastured.  And  here,  facts,  not  theory, 
are  to  be  considered.  The  writer  has  tried  some  experiments  on 
this  point.  Five  steers  and  heifers  were  put  into  a  good  pasture 
and  kept  for  three  months,  during  the  best  part  of  the  pasturing 
season,  while  others  of  the  same  age  and  condition,  at  the  start, 


318  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

were  soiled,  and  on  comparison,  at  the  end  of  three  months, 
those  soiled  were  found  in  decidedly  the  best  condition.  The 
same  cows  were  pastured  one  season,  and  soiled  the  next,  and 
their  condition  was  better  when  soiled  than  when  pastured ;  and 
uniformly  soiling  has  improved  the  condition  of  his  animals. 
He  has  cows  that  have  been  soiled  for  five  consecutive  seasons, 
and  kept  iu  good  condition  and  uniform  health.  In  fact,  he 
regards  soiling  as  very  conducive  to  the  health  of  animals,  as  it 
places  always  within  the  power  of  the  feeder,  an  abundant  sup- 
ply of  the  best  food ;  while  pasturing,  frequently  affords  a  large 
supply  at  one  season,  and  a  very  meager  one  at  another.  And 
to  those  who  are  fattening  animals  for  the  market,  it  is  of  great 
value,  as  by  adding  a  small  quantity  of  grain  to  the  summer 
feed,  they  will  fatten  very  fast.  Summer  is  the  best  time  to  fat- 
ten animals,  for  they  will  fatten  in  less  time,  and  with  one-third 
less  grain,  than  required  in  winter.  It  also  offers  every  facility 
for  graduating  the  feed  to  each  animal,  according  to  its  condition 
and  the  object  to  be  attained.  A  dairyman  may  prepare  a  cow, 
he  desires  to  part  with,  for  the  butcher,  while  giving  milk,  and 
thus  save  any  loss. 

EFFECT    OF    SOILING    UPON    THE    PRODUCT    OF    MILK. 

"The  experience  of  the  writer  is  that  the  cow  will  average 
one-tenth  more  milk  through  the  whole  season.  When  the  pas- 
ture is  fresh  and  full,  and  the  cow  can  easily  get  all  she  wants, 
she  will  give  as  much  milk,  but  soiling  enables  the  feeder  to  give 
a  uniform  supply  of  food,  and  consequently  the  flow  of  milk  will 
be  more  uniform.  Some  American  farmers  have  estimated  the 
increase  of  milk  much  greater  than  the  above,  and  some  very 
interesting  experiments  have  just  been  published  by  Dr.  Rhode- 
Eldena,  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Agriculture,  in  Prussia,  of 
the  comparative  yield  of  milk  from  cows,  by  pasturing  and  stable 
feeding,  or  soiling,  through  seven  years  of  each  system.  The 
pasturing  experiment  began  in  1853,  and  continued  to  the  end 


SOILING.  319 

of  1859,  and  stable  feeding  began  in  1860,  and  ended  with  1866. 
From  forty  to  seventy  cows  were  pastured  each  year.  The 
lowest  average  per  cow  is  1,385  quarts,  in  1855,  when  seventy 
cows  were  kept;  and  the  highest,  1,941  quarts,  in  1859,  when 
forty  cows  were  kept;  and  the  greatest  quantity  given  by  one 
cow  during  the  time,  was  2,938  quarts.  In  the  stabling  experi- 
ment, from  twenty-nine  to  thirty-eight  cows  were  kept,  and  the 
lowest  average  per  cow  is  2,930  quarts,  in  1862,  when  thirty- 
eight  cows  were  kept;  the  highest,  4,000  quarts,  in  1866,  with 
thirty-five  cows;  and  the  highest  quantity  given  by  one  cow  was 
5,092  quarts.  The  average  per  cow,  for  the  whole  seven  years 
in  pasturing,  was  1,583  quarts,  while  the  average  per  cow,  for 
the  seven  years  of  stabling,  or  soiling,  was  3,442  quarts.  This 
result  is  very  remarkable,  and  were  it  not  supported  by  such 
high  authority,  would  be  almost  incredible.  The  explanation  is 
to  be  found,  perhaps,  in  the  fact  that  the  owner  of  the  stabled 
herd,  Mr.  Herman,  in  1860,  began  to  discard  the  poorest  milkers, 
and  substitute  the  best  Dutch  breed.  His  cows  were  also  fed 
highly  in  winter,  with  rye-bran,  oil-cake,  and  sometimes  potatoes. 
The  yield  of  the  same  cow  is  compared  for  several  years.  As  a 
sample,  cow  No.  24  gave,  in  1860,  3,293  quarts;  in  1863,  4,483 
quarts;  in  1865,  4,800  quarts.  This  shows  a  regular  progress, 
and  a  high  state  of  feeding,  and  is  most  encouraging  to  the  dairy- 
man who  wishes,  by  intelligent  feeding,  to  improve  his  herd. 
We  do  not  claim  all  this  for  soiling,  but  it  is  only  under  this 
system  that  such  a  method  could  be  pursued,  and  the  increase 
here,  must  fairly  be  set  down  at  fifty  per  cent.,  as  referable  to 
green  soiling  alone.  And  we  must  be  considered  very  modest 
in  stating,  that  the  extra  product  of  milk  in  soiling,  will  more 
than  pay  for  the  labor  of  feeding. 

SAVING    IN    FENCES. 

"This  question  of  fences  is  becoming  more  and  more  important 
every  year,  and  soon  the  fences  must  be  dispensed  with,  whether 


320  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

cattle  are  soiled  or  pastured.  It  is  now  the  most  onerous  tax 
upon  agriculture.  Let  us  suppose  the  dairyman  keeping  fifty 
cows,  and  that  150  acres  are  devoted  to  pasture.  Suppose  this 
to  be  divided  into  six  lots,  of  25  acres,  each  50  by  80  rods,  and 
that  it  all  lies  in  a  body  160  by  150  rods.  This  would  make  the 
fencing  more  than  ordinarily  economical,  and  he  would  have 
1,090  rods  of  fence.  Suppose  it  to  cost  $1  per  rod,*  and  that 
it  will  last  twenty  years.  This  will  make  the  first  outlay  $1,090. 
The  interest  of  which  is,  $76.30.  The  average  expense  for  the 
whole  period,  of  keeping  it  in  repairs,  cannot  be  less  than  five 
per  cent.,  or  $54.50  per  year,  and  add  to  this  the  loss  of  capital 
yearly,  $54.50,  and  you  have  the  whole  annual  expense,  $185.30, 
for  fencing  a  pasture  adequate  to  keep  fifty  cows.  Now,  this  is 
more  than  enough  to  pay  for  the  labor  of  soiling  the  same  ani- 
mals, as  one  good  man,  with  the  proper  conveniences,  can  cut 
for  and  feed  fifty  cows.  Soiling  renders  fences  useless,  except 
to  enclose  a  yard  for  the  animals  to  exercise  in.  In  fact,  it 
would  cost  less  to  employ  a  herdsman,  constantly,  with  the  cattle. 
Besides,  the  fences  are  always  in  the  way,  and  are  infested  with 
foul  weeds  and  bushes,  which,  by  neglect,  get  distributed  over  the 
farm.  Every  farmer  will  find  it  a  great  convenience  to  be  able 
to  plow  without  the  obstruction  of  fences,  to  drive  into  and  from 
his  fields  without  letting  down  and  putting  up  bars,  or  open 
gates,  to  run  his  mower  and  reaper  without  leaving  the  corners 
of  the  fences  to  be  cut  by  hand. 

"Another  item  of  economy  not  to  be  overlooked  in  dispensing 
with  fences,  is,  the  saving  of  one-half  rod  of  ground  where  the 
fence  stands.  This  would  amount  to  about  three  and  one-half 
acres,  covered  by  the  1,090  rods  of  fence.  And  this  land,  when 
in  good  condition,  would  soil  seven  cows  through  the  grazing 
season.  Thus  it  appears,  by  an  examination  of  the  facts,  that 

*Mr.  Stewart,  living  in  a  region  where  wood  and  lumber  are  cheap,  estimates  the 
average  expense  too  low.  The  expenses  of  good  farm  fences  cannot  be  less  than 
$1.50  to  $3  per  rod,  according  to  locality,  and  the  materials  of  which  they  are  made, 
at  the  cheapest.— L.  F.  A. 


SOILING.  321 

the  great  objection  usually  urged  to  soiling  animals,  namely,  the 
extra  labor  involved,  has  no  foundation,  but  on  the  contrary,  that 
soiling,  in  point  of  labor,  is  the  cheaper  of  the  two  systems.  And, 
from  his  experience  of  ten  years,  the  writer  would  rather  perform 
the  labor  of  soiling  fifty  cows  for  a  series  of  years,  than  to  fence 
and  pasture  them. 

SAVING    IN    MANURE. 

"This  is  a  most  important  consideration. 

"  1st.  It  will  double  the  amount  of  manure  from  each  animal 
kept,  as  the  summer  manure  will  all  be  saved,  and  in  good  con- 
dition to  be  applied  as  needed. 

"2d.  The  saving  in  land  will  enable  the  feeder  to  keep  double 
the  number  of  animals,  and,  therefore,  to  produce  four  times  as 
much  manure  as  under  the  old  system.  By  keeping  an  increased 
number  of  animals  on  the  same  land,  it  is  evident  that  the  con- 
dition of  the  soil  will  be  improved,  and  that  this  will,  when 
fully  adopted,  prevent  the  dreaded  exhaustion,  which  those  of 
wise  forecast,  have  seen  approaching  in  the  not  distant  future. 

"The  value  of  manure  is  not  appreciated  as  it  should  be  by  the 
farmers  of  the  United  States.  Johnston  informs  us  that  in  Flan- 
ders the  liquid  and  solid  manure  from  a  cow  is  valued  at  twenty 
dollars  per  year.  This  would  give  us  the  value  of  the  manure 
saved  by  soiling  each  cow,  ten  dollars  per  season.  There  can,  at 
least,  be  no  doubt  that  the  manure  will  pay  the  whole  expense 
of  soiling. 

SAVING    LAND. 

"How  the  farmer  may  double  his  farm  without  increasing  the 
number  of  his  acres,  should  be  a  problem  of  great  interest.  And 
since  the  great  business  of  the  farmer  is  in  rearing  and  keeping 
animals,  any  method  which  will  enable  him  to  keep,  in  good  con- 
dition, two  animals  where  he  has  kept  one  before,  will  come  very 
near  solving  this  problem,  by  showing  how  the  income  of  the 
farm  may  be  doubled,  without  any  proportionate  increase  of  the 
labor.  On  most  grazing  farms  of  this  State,  not  more  than  one 


322  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

cow  is  kept  to  four  acres  of  arable  land,  and  in  many  cases  only 
one  to  five,  and  six  acres.  Three  acres  of  pasture,  and  one  acre 
of  good  meadow,  keep  the  cow  through  the  year.  The  fact  that 
three  times  as  much  land  is  usually  devoted  to  summering  a  cow, 
as  to  wintering  her,  should,  of  itself,  be  quite  enough  to  show 
the  wastefulness  of  the  pasturing  system.  Especially,  when  it 
is  considered  that  it  takes  one-eighth  more  food  to  keep  the  same 
animal  in  cold  than  in  warm  weather.  Let  us  compare  this  with 
soiling.  It  appears,  by  the  experiments  detailed,  that  land  may 
be  so  fertile,  that  forty  rods  of  ground  will  be  sufficient  to  soil  a 
cow  for  the  whole  pasturing  season,  but  we  will  not  assume  so 
extreme  a  position.  If  we  take  twice  this  amount,  or  one-half 
acre  of  fertile  land,  devoted  to  soiling  crops  for  each  cow,  no 
disappointment  will  result.  Then,  if  one-half  acre  will  soil  a 
cow,  instead  of  three  acres  pastured,  we  have  saved  five-sixths 
of  the  land,  or  two  and  one-half  acres.  This  two  and  a  half 
acres  will,  certainly,  soil  and  winter  another  cow.  But  we  will 
divide  the  four  acres  into  two  parts,  giving  each  cow  two  acres, 
and  estimate  three-fourths  of  an  acre  for  soiling,  and  one  and  a 
fourth  acres  for  wintering  the  cow.  This  can,  most  confidently, 
be  relied  upon  to  furnish  abundant  food,  when  in  good  condition, 
to  keep  a  cow  through  the  year.  And  thus,  we  see  that  the 
land  usually  devoted  to  a  cow,  under  the  pasturing  system,  is 
abundant,  in  soiling,  to  keep  two. 

"In  fact,  the  writer  has  never  used  so  much  as  two  acres  in 
good  condition,  to  keep  a  cow  through  the  year.  And  as  it  has 
been  shown  that  the  aggregate  amount  of  labor  is  not  increased 
by  soiling,  it  follows,  conclusively,  that  this  system,  properly  con- 
ducted, will  double  the  income  of  the  stock  feeder,  without  any 
increase  of  his  land. 

SOILING    CROPS. 

"The  field  or  fields  which  are  to  furnish  the  summer  food, 
should  be  near  the  place  of  feeding — and  being  near  the  barn,  it 


SOILING.  323 

may  easily  be  made  fertile,  if  not  originally  so.  Of  the  grasses, 
clover  will  furnish  the  earliest  green  fodder.  It  can  usually  be 
cut  about  the  20th  of  May, — or  earlier,  or  later,  according  'to 
locality — and  on  moist  land,  will  furnish  three  or  more  cut- 
tings. Where  winter  rye  flourishes,  it  makes  an  excellent 
soiling  crop,  and  may  be  cut  even  earlier  than  clover,  and  will 
furnish  several  cuttings  in  a  season,  and,  according  to  Liebig,  if 
kept  back  the  first  season,  by  cutting,  will  mature  a  crop  tho 
second  summer.  On  good  laud  it  will  furnish  a  large  amount  of 
food.  Oats  are  also  used  for  soiling.  Indian  corn  sowed  at 
times,  fifteen  days  apart  from  the  earliest  planting,  until  the  20th 
of  July.  Sorghum,  on  land  suited  to  it — light,  warm  soil — free 
from  weeds,  makes  a  valuable  soiling  crop,  yielding  abundantly.* 
But  clover  and  Indian  corn  must  be  the  principal  reliance  for 
early  and  late  feed.  The  writer  generally  uses  clover  till  timo- 
thy is  sufficiently  matured;  after  timothy,  early  sowed  corn;  then 
second  cutting  of  clover  and  sowed  corn  till  freezing  weather. 
There  is  little  difficulty  in  arranging  for  a  regular  succession  of 
succulent  food,  from  the  20th  of  Mayf  to  December.  It  would 
be  well  to  have  one-fourth  acre  for  each  cow,  in  clover,  and  one- 
fifth  acre  per  cow,  in  corn,  sowed  at  different  periods.  The  bal- 
ance of  the  feed  can  be  obtained  from  the  timothy  meadows. 
If  any  fears  were  entertained  of  a  scanty  supply  for  late  autumn 
feeding,  more  corn  might  be  put  in,  and  the  surplus  would  be  ready 
for  winter  use. 

METHOD    OF    FEEDING. 

"Different,  methods  may  be  adopted  in  summer  feeding.  The 
yard, — a  small  field  enclosed  with  a  hurdle  fence, — the  open 
shed, — the  stable, — all,  or  either,  may  be  used  as  a  place  for 

*  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  the  effects  of  sweet  foods,  as  sorghum, 
may  prove  injurious  to  the  conception  of  breeding  cows,  as  suggested  in  a  previous 
chapter,  on  barrenness.— L.  F.  A. 

+  In  some  sections  of  our  country  the  green  feeding  will  commence  some  days,  or 
weeks  earlier.  Mr.  Stewart  dates  from  his  own  locality.— L.  F.  A. 


324  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

feeding.  But  the  stable  is  preferable  for  cows.  Feed  the  ani- 
mals in  the  same  position  winter  and  summer.  Once  a  day  let 
them  out  for  air  and  exercise.  Give  them  a  small  field,  or  a 
lane,  leading  to  the  wood  lot,  to  run  in.  Being  always  fed  at 
the  stable,  they  will  be  there  at  the  appointed  time.  They  should 
be  fed  with  perfect  regularity,  say  at  six  and  ten  A.  M.,  and  at  two 
and  six  p.  M.,  giving  air  and  exercise  between  ten  and  two. 
Some  prefer  more  numerous  feedings.  Mr.  Quincy,  of  Boston, 
Mass., — a  strong  advocate  of  soiling,  who  has  had  large  experi- 
ence, and  written  a  treatise  on  the  subject — recommends  six. 
There  are  good  arguments  for  numerous  feedings.  Less  will  be 
fed  at  a  time,  and  the  food  will  be  fresh.  A  good  feeder  will 
give  no  more  at  each  time  than  the  animal  eats  up  clean,  and 
with  a  relish.  Too  much  at  a  time  tends  to  cloy  the  animal  and 
impair  easy  digestion.  It  is  better  to  give  less  than  the  appetite 
craves,  than  more.  It  is  especially  necessary  to  be  prudent  in 
this  particular  in  summer,  as  animals  are  more  easily  cloyed  in 
warm  than  cold  weather.  "When  the  clover  is  first  cut  for  soil- 
ing, and  is  very  green  and  succulent,  it  is  better  to  cut  and  mix 
it  with  one-fourth  the  quantity  of  cut  hay,  or  straw.  This  cut 
hay,  or  straw,  will  absorb  much  of  the  moisture  and  prevent 
bloating,  but  when  more  mature,  the  clover  may  be  fed  alone. 
The  food  should  be  slightly  salted  once  or  twice  a  week.  For 
milk  cows,  the  green  food  should  be  fed  fresh,  and  not  suffered 
to  be  much  wilted. 

ARRANGEMENT    OF    ANIMALS. 

''Next,  how  shall  the  animals  be  arranged  for  feeding?  This 
•will  vary  according  to  the  idea  of  order  and  convenient  arrange- 
ment, entertained  by  the  feeder.  Perhaps  the  method  of  fasten- 
ing by  stanchions,  or  chain  and  stanchion,  so  generally  used,  is 
the  best  for  holding  the  animal  to  its  position,  and  is  not  found 
to  be  injurious  to  the  health.  They  should  be  so  arranged  as  to 
feed  conveniently  from  the  barn  floor,  and  when  a  large  number 


BOILING.  325 

of  animals  are  to  be  kept,  a  stable  should  be  on  each  side  of  the 
floor,  so  that  a  one-horse  cart  may  be  used  to  bring  the  summer 
food.  By  this  arrangement,  there  is  little  more  labor  in  feeding 
fifty,  than  twenty-five  animals  in  the  ordinary  way.  Then  water 
should  be  convenient.  A  tank  in  the  yard  near  the  stable; 
more  convenient  still,  pipes  arranged  for  pumping  the  water  in 
front  of  the  animals,  so  that  a  man,  or  power,  at  the  pump,  may 
water  any  number  of  animals  at  once.  Some  barns  are  so 
arranged  that  the  manure  is  dropped,  by  a  trap  door  through  the 
floor,  into  a  cellar.  This  is  an  economy  of  labor,  and  also  a  great 
saving  in  manure,  as  it  is  kept  from  all  exposure  to  sun,  wind 
and  rain. 

"Let  us,  in  conclusion,  epitomize  the  soiling  system.  There 
are  three  incidental  sources  from  which  the  extra  labor  is  more 
than  compensated. 

"1st.  The  extra  product  of  milk,  butter,  and  beef,  will  pay 
the  labor. 

"2d.  The  manure,  being  all  saved,  will  more  than  pay  the 
labor. 

"3d.  The  saving  in  fences,  as  we  have  seen,  is  a  great  item, 
and  will  more  than  pay  the  labor. 

"And  lastly,  the  saving  in  land,  when  turned  to  full  account, 
will  enable  the  stock  feeder  to  double  the  net  income  of  his  farm. 
That  this  is  a  moderate  calculation,  we  have  only  to  look  at 
some  of  the  small  German  States,  where  eight  cows  are  fre- 
quently kept  upon  ten  acres.  There,  fences  are  unknown — all 
animals  are  soiled,  and  necessity  has  compelled  economy  of 
land ;  thus  we  see  the  result.  American  farmers  are  ever  seeking 
for  more  land — too  seldom  for  greater  products.  The  small 
farmers  will  find  their  interest  in  using  the  land  they  have,  before 
striving  for  more,  which  they  do  not  well  cultivate.  Tillable 
land,  worth  even  twenty-five  dollars  per  acre,  cannot  be  profit- 
ably pastured.  Let  the  small  farmers,  at  least,  try  soiling.  If 


326  AMERICAN    ClTTLK. 

they  can  keep  a  cow  to  every  acre  and  a  half,  or  two  acres,  their 
farms  will  be,  practically,  as  large  as  their  more  favored  neigh- 
bors. And  when  the  system  is  demonstrated  by  the  small,  the 
large  farmers  will  adopt  it  in  mortification  at  the  comparison." 

ANOTHER    EXPERIMENT. 

Exhaustive  as  these  extended  remarks  may  appear,  we  add  an 
article,  which  has  since  come  under  our  notice,  from  the  "Prac- 
tical Farmer,"  published  in  Philadelphia,  which  confirms  our  own 
opinions,  as  a  tried  test,  of  the  benefits  of  soiling  dairy  cows  in 
summer.  The  great  value  of  this  improved  mode  of  feeding 
will  justify  its  insertion. 

"It  is  an  account  of  a  dairy  farm  in  Chester  County,  Pa.,  owned 
and  carried  on  by  a  merchant  in  Philadelphia.  He  began  farm- 
ing four  years  ago,  having  about  one  hundred  acres  of  cleared 
land,  for  which  he  purchased  twelve  cows  and  two  heilers.  He 
engaged  a  farmer,  who  continued  in  charge  two  years,  and  made 
one  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty-two  pounds  of  butter  the 
first  year,  and  one  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  the  second 
year  This  was  principally  from  pasture  alone,  no  provisions 
having  been  made,  by  growing  early  rye,  corn  fodder,  or  any 
other  green  food,  to  keep  up  a  plentiful  supply,  either  early  or 
late  in  the  season,  when  pasture  was  short,  and  it  is  so  indispens- 
able, in  order  to  keep  up  the  condition  of  the  cows  and  their 
milk.  The  third  year,  the  proprietor  undertook  the  management 
himself,  and  made  two  thousand  eight  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
pounds  of  butter;  and  during  the  fourth  year,  ending  April  1, 
1867,  he  made  four  thousand  and  fifty-five  pounds,  having 
increased  his  stock  from  fourteen  up  to  twenty  head — five  of  the 
latter,  heifers  with  their  first  calves.  He  says: 

'"Now  I  suppose  it  will  be  asked  by  what  management  the 
butter  was  increased  from  one  thousand  four  hundred  and  thirty- 
two  pounds,  to  four  thousand  and  fifty-five  pounds.  There  was 


SOILING.  327 

but  little  change  in  the  stock,  almost  all  of  the  original  cows 
having  been  retained,  and  the  increase  being  but  three  cows  and 
three  heifers,  but  the  increase  in  the  butter  was  from  twice  and  a 
half  to  three  times  the  quantity.  The  difference  in  the  manage- 
ment was  this :  My  original  farmer  kept  the  cows  only  as  I  have 
before  stated,  on  pasture;  the  farm  then  had  nothing  grown 
expressly  to  fodder  or  soil  them  with,  which  was,  and  is  now, 
the  custom  with  many  farmers  in  our  country;  neither  was  there 
any  meal  fed,  except  it  might  be  to  a  cow  that  had  calved  early 
in  the  spring,  before  the  pasture  was  sufficient  to  turn  out  upon; 
also,  the  cows  were  permitted  to  remain  out,  exposed  to  cold,  wet 
storms,  (when  they  should  have  been  stabled  and  kept  dry,)  thus 
early  in  the  season  checking  the  flow  of ,  milk,  which  is  after- 
wards difficult  to  restore. 

'"Early  in  the  season,  the  young  grass,  when  cows  are  first 
turned  out  to  pasture,  is  -watery,  and  tends  to  make  the  cows 
scour  very  much ;  and  although  it  will  in  that  state  increase  the 
flow  of  milk,  and  also  the  quantity  of  butter,  yet  it  will  be  at 
the  expense  of  the  condition  of  the  cow,  reducing  her  in  flesh, 
and  telling  upon  her  during  the  whole  season.  At  this  time,  I 
consider  it  important  that  a  cow  should  be  fed  with  ship-stuff,  or 
bran  and  corn  meal,  mixed  night  and  morning.  This  not  only 
assists  in  preventing  scouring,  but  by  keeping  up  the  condition 
of  the  stock,  increases  the  quantity  of  butter  to  a  very  consider- 
able extent.  My  opinion  is,  that  meal  fed  at  this  time,  pays 
better,  certainly  as  well  as  at  other  times  during  the  season,  not 
excepting  in  mid-winter. 

"  'I  am  well  satisfied  that  the  condition  of  the  cow,  in  order  to 
obtain  from  her  a  full  yield,  or  one  that  will  be  profitable,  must 
at  all  times  be  well  looked  to.  She  must  be  well  wintered  and 
fed,  so  that  when  she  comes  out  of  the  barnyard  in  the  spring, 
after  having  calved,  she  is  in  good  flesh,  showing  her  keep,  and 
the  care  taken  of  her,  and  not  like  what  is  too  much  the  custom 


328  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  the  country,  namely,  dry  cows,  wintered  on  straw,  and  no 
shelter  except  it  be  the  lee  side  of  the  barnyard,  until  the  calf  is 
dropped,  when  it  is  too  late,  for  the  poor  in  flesh  cow,  to  yield 
her  full  capacity. 

"'A  cow  should  at  all  times,  when  milking,  be  fully  supplied 
with  meal;  not  stimulated  to  excess,  however,  for  that  would 
certainly  produce  reaction  afterwards;  but  she  must  have  a  full 
and  plentiful  supply,  at  all  times,  of  good  food  and  water.  For 
that  purpose,  I  have  grown  early  rye  to  begin  with  in  the  early 
season,  before  the  grass  is  sufficient  to  turn  out  on;  then,  after 
harvest,  during  the  dry  weather,  when  the  pasture  fails,  Hunga- 
rian grass,  (millet,)  to  be  followed  with  corn,  sowed  in  drills  for 
fodder,  which,  cut  morning  and  evening,  and  fed  to  the  stock 
whilst  milking,  fills  them  twice  a  day,  and  with  the  pasture, 
makes  up  all  that  is  required.  During  the  last  season,  while  it 
was  necessary  to  soil  with  Hungarian-  grass  and  corn  for  fodder, 
we  have  also  fed  two  quarts  of  ship-stuff  each  night  and  morn- 
ing, as  we  feel  satisfied  that,  although  the  Hungarian  grass  and 
green  corn  will  keep  up  the  yield  of  milk,  yet  they  will  not  alone 
make  as  much  butter,  as  a  full  supply  of  pasture  or  the  natural 


"'I  look  upon  a  cow  as  similar  to  a  steam  boiler;  no  matter 
how  good  they  may  be,  unless  the  boiler  is  well  supplied  with 
water  and  good  fuel,  also  well  attended  to,  the  supply  of  steam 
will  be  short,  or  it  will  be  in  proportion  to  the  fuel  and  attention. 
So,  also,  with  the  cow;  no  matter  how  good  she  mav  be,  if  she 
is  not  well  and  plentifully  fed  and  cared  for,  her  product  will  be 
shortened. 

"  'Another  very  important  matter  with  cows,  is,  that  they  should 
be  protected  from  storms  and  bad  weather.  They  should  be  fed 
and  kept  under  shelter  when  the  nights  are  wet  and  inclement; 
this  more  particularly  in  the  early  season,  when  the  cow  is  fresh 
and  in  full  milk;  one  exposure  to  a  cold,  wet  night,  has  fre- 
quently reduced  the  milk  one-half.  Also  in  the  fall,  when  the 


SOILING.  329 

nights  become  frosty,  never  let  them  remain  out;  be  particular  to 
stable  them;  and  in  the  morning  never  turn  them  out  on  the  pas- 
ture until  the  frost  is  melted  off  by  the  sun,  as  nothing,  perhaps, 
dries  a  cow,  or  reduces  her  milk,  more  than  eating  grass  with  the 
frost  on.  To  many  of  these  requirements,  the  generality  of 
farmers  pay  no  attention  whatever.  In  the  early  season,  as 
soon  as  there  is  any  pasture  whatever,  the  cow  is  turned  out  of 
the  barnyard  to  eat  what  she  may  find,  and  to  remain  day  and 
night  until  the  winter  comes.  There  is  nothing  grown  or  fed  to 
eke  out  the  scanty  supply  of  pasturage  that  almost  invariably 
occurs  at  some  time  in  each  season.' " 

Although  the  writer,  in  these  last  two  paragraphs,  has  ex- 
pressed nearly  the  same  views  which  we  have  elsewhere  given, 
they  are  recorded  as  strongly  fortifying  our  own. 

In  this  somewhat  elaborate,  and  in  some  of  its  necessary 
incidental  duties,  repeated  discussion  of  the  benefits  of  soil- 
ing, we  do  not  anticipate  an  immediate  revolution,  or  indeed, 
any  great  degree  of  reform  in  the  long  practiced  methods  of  cat- 
tle keeping,  in  this  country  of  comparatively  cheap  land  and  dear 
labor — excepting,  possibly,  the  feeding  of  milk  cows.  Yet  it  is  a 
subject  deeply  concerning  the  economy  of  our  cattle  husbandry 
throughout.  A  snug,  compact  system,  widely  different  from  the 
too  generally  loose  way  of  managing  stock,  must  be  adopted  in 
order  to  carry  it  out.  Our  smaller  stock  farmers  will  probably 
be  the  first  to  adopt  it,  and  it  will  ultimately,  to  a  considerable 
extent,  be  adopted  by  the  larger  ones  as  their  land  becomes  more 
valuable,  and  its  advantages  become  better  understood.  Those 
living  immediately  contiguous  to  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  must 
adopt  it  of  necessity;  the  large  dairies  will  follow;  then  the 
stall-feeders ;  and  ultimately  a  great  many  of  the  stock  breeders, 
and  graziers,  will  fall  into  it  from  a  sheer  conviction  of  its  advan- 
tages. The  farmers  inhabiting  the  wide  pastoral  regions  of  the 
far  West,  will  be  slow  in  coming  into  a  plan  requiring  so  much 
of  system,  of  close  calculation,  but  no  long  cycle  of  years  will 


330  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

elapse  before  soiling  will  be  as  common  in  the  densely  peopled 
sections  of  the  United  States,  as  its  benefits  will  be  advantageous. 

FALL    FEEDING    OF    COWS. 

As  the  season  of  green  food  passes  by,  soft,  early  cured  hay, 
cut  short  in  a  machine,  and  mixed  with  grain  meal,  or  "mid- 
dlings" from  flour  mills,  is  the  best  material  as  a  substitute  for 
the  failing  grass,  or  green  clover  and  corn.  The  quantity  of  the 
hay  and  meal  given  must  be  judged  by  the  dairyman,  (see  next 
chapter,)  but  the  cow  must  have  enough.  Understand,  all  this 
extra  food  must  be  regulated  by  the  supply  of  grass,  which  she 
may  obtain  from  the  pasture,  or  other  green  food. 

The  food  of  the  cow,  in  its  kind,  influences,  to  a  greater  or 
less  degree,  the  richness  of  her  milk,  and  the  quantity  of  butter 
or  cheese  it  will  make,  as  well  as  its  quality.  The  dairyman, 
who  sells  his  milk  for  immediate  consumption,  regards  quantity 
more  than  quality,  and  is  therefore  apt  to  use  that  food  which 
will  most  readily  produce  it.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
the  flesh  of  the  cow  is  to  be  kept  in  good  condition  all  the  time, 
to  render  her  permanently  serviceable,  and  the  flesh-producing 
quality  of  her  food  should  not  be  neglected,  while  that  most 
favorable  to  the  secretion  of  her  milk  is  provided. 

As  the  nights  now  grow  chilly,  the  cow  should  be  kept  in  her 
stable  through  the  night,  and  if  stormy,  through  the  day.  "When 
the  frosts  begin  to  nip  the  pastures,  even  if  there  be  a  good  growth 
of  grass,  she  should  not  eat  it  early  in  the  morning,  nor  until  the 
frost  be  melted  off.  She  should  be  fed  in  her  stall  before  going 
out  to  graze.  A  moderate  amount  of  good  hay — if  finely  cut, 
the  better — may  be  laid  at  night  in  her  manger,  to  make  more 
solid  the  succulent  food  otherwise  fed,  that  her  bowels  may  be 
kept  equable. 

WINTER    FEEDING    OF    COWS. 

For  winter  food,  much  will  depend  upon  the  time  at  which  the 
cow  is  to  be  dried,  and  also  upon  her  bodily  condition,  in  each 


WINTER    FEEDING    OF    COWS.  331 

of  which  the  dairyman  must  be  the  judge.  If  she  has  been 
thoroughly  driven  in  her  lacteal  yields  for  the  past  eight  or  nine 
months,  three  months  is  none  too  much  time  for  her  to  rest,  and 
properly  recuperate  her  faculties  for  another  season.  It  is  also 
doubtful  whether,  in  ordinary  cheese  and  butter  dairies,  the  extra 
expense  of  forcing  her  with  stimulating  milk-producing  foods, 
will  pay  during  the  inclement  seasons,  when  all  dairy  work  must 
be  prosecuted  at  comparative  disadvantage.  That  must  be  left 
to  the  judgment  of  the  dairyman. 

If  the  cow  be  reduced  in  flesh  by  her  severe  toils  at  the  pail — 
and  she  cannot  but  be  somewhat  so,  if  a  really  good  milker,  and 
with  plenty  of  milk-creating  food — she  must,  to  continue  her 
usefulness,  be  fully  recruited  during  the  winter.  She  may  be 
dried  off  in  December.  She  should  produce  her  calf  in  the  latter 
part  of  March — or  by  the  tenth  of  April,  at  the  latest.  Her 
winter  forage  should  be  soft,  sweet,  well  cured  hay — cut  when 
the  grass  is  not  earlier  than  in  its  first  bloom,  and  before  the  seed 
hardens  into  ripening,  of  whatever  kind  of  grass  the  hay  be 
made.  When  a  large  stock  is  kept,  the  hay  may  not  always  be 
thus  seasonably  made.  If  not,  it  should  be  as  near  to  it  as  pos- 
sible. Hay  alone  will  not  recruit  lean  cows  during  the  winter, 
into  good  dairy  condition  for  the  coming  season.  Indian  corn, 
oat,  barley  and  rye  meal,  or  wheat  bran,  or  middlings  from  flour 
mills,  buckwheat  meal,  or  roots,  may  be  resorted  to  for  assist- 
ance; but  at  all  events  the  cow  should  be  restored  to  good  con 
dition  for  the  proper  production  of  her  calf,  and  the  wear  and 
tear  of  the  succeeding  season  of  hard  milking.  The  hay  for  feed- 
ing should  be  cut  short,  as  when  in  giving  milk,  say  a  quarter,  and 
not  to  exceed  half  an  inch  long,  in  a  machine.  It  is  better,  and 
a  saving  of  at  least  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  in  quantity  of  con- 
sumption. If  the  meal,  with  plenty  of  water,  be  sprinkled  upon 
it,  and  well  mixed,  she  will  thrive  all  the  better. 

Roots  are  a  good  winter  and  spring  food  for  cows,  particularly 
to  promote  the  flow  of  milk  when  about  calving.     The  kinds  of 


332  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

roots  we  most  recommend  are  mangold-wurtzel,  sugar-beet,  and 
carrots.  Turnips,  and  ruta-baga,  aside  from  giving  their  own  taste 
to  the  milk,  are  uncertain  crops  in  our  dry  and  hot  climate,  and 
the  fly  often  destroys  them  altogether.  They  are  an  English 
crop,  and  are  better  fitted  to  its  moist,  cool  summers,  than  to 
ours.  As  a  crop  to  be  depended  on  we  do  not  recommend  them. 
The  other  roots  named  are  easily  raised,  and  generally  sure. 
Roots,  of  any  kind,  should  always  be  well  cleaned,  and  cut  in  a 
machine,  or  by  a  spade,  or  knife,  before  feeding  to  the  cow.  The 
situation  and  locality  of  the  dairyman,  and  his  facilities  for  obtain- 
ing grain  feed,  must  measurably  control  his  choice  of  these  extra 
articles.  The  food  should  be  given  three  times  a  day — morning, 
noon,  and  night. 

In  addition  to  her  feeding,  the  cow  should  be  kept  clean,  in  a 
warm,  well  ventilated  stable,  and  bedded  with  straw,  or  other 
coarse  litter;  and  if  the  time  can  be  spared,  curried  over  daily 
with  a  card.  She  should  be  salted  as  often  as  once  a  week,  at 
least — a  trifle  of  salt  daily,  or  tri-weekly  would  be  better — and 
looked  after  as  carefully  as  her  condition  requires.  The  cow  is 
a  part  of  the  working  capital  of  the  dairyman,  farmer,  or  house- 
keeper, and  no  good  manager  can  afford  to  neglect  her.  We 
may  have  repeated  this  injunction  in  other  places;  but  "line 
upon  line,  and  precept  upon  precept,"  need  not  be  considered 
superfluous  in  a  work  of  this  importance. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

SALE    MILK    DAIRIES. 

DAIRIES  kept  for  milk  to  be  sold  for  immediate  consumption, 
or  manufactured  into  the  "concentrated"  article  for  transporta- 
tion abroad,  are  of  such  importance  throughout  our  country,  that 
a  full  chapter  on  them  may  be  submitted.  To  show,  somewhat, 
the  value  of  purchased  milk  in  the  United  States,  the  "Ameri- 
can Agriculturist,"  of  January,  1867,  informs  us  that  the  con- 
sumption in  the  city  of  New  York,  and  its  immediate  vicinity, 
comprising  about  two  millions  of  people,  a  ratio  of  less  than  one- 
third  of  a  pint  per  day  to  a  person,  amounts,  at  ihe\ale  price,  to 
four  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars  a  year !  Of  this  sum,  the  pro- 
ducers of  the  milk  get  $2,300,000,  and  the  other  $2,200,000, 
or  about  one-half  the  gross  amount,  is  absorbed  by  the  railroads 
in  freight,  and  the  dealers'  profits,  which  stand  between  the 
producer  and  consumer.  Now,  as  every  city,  town,  and  village 
of  any  size  in  the  United  States,  is  more  or  less  supplied  with 
milk  from  dairies  kept  for  that  particular  purpose,  it  must 
be  apparent,  that  of  the  forty  millions  of  people  in  the  United 
States,  at  least  one-eighth  part  of  them  must  buy  their  milk; 
and  of  these  one-eighth,  or  five  millions,  each  consume,  as  for 
their  health  they  ought  to  do,  half  a  pint  per  day,  the  aver- 
age quantity  per  year  will  be  114,062,500  gallons.  And  if  this 
be  worth  twelve  cents  a  gallon  to  the  producer,  as  it  probably 
is,  taking  the  year  through,  the  sum  total  is  the  moderate  sum  of 
$13,687,500 — and  that  only  for  one-eighth  of  our  population! 
We  think  our  estimate  is  too  low — that  more  than  one-eighth 


334  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

buy  the  milk  they  consume;  but  as  there  are  numberless  family 
cows  kept  in  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  by  private  residents,  who 
not  only  thus  furnish  their  own  milk,  but  supply  an  occasional 
neighbor,  we  let  the  estimate  stand  as  not  far  out  of  the  way. 

As  milk  is,  or  ought  to  be,  largely  consumed  by  children,  and 
enters  also  into  various  processes  of  table  use,  and  cookery,  it 
should  be  pure,  produced  by  healthy  cows,  which  are  fed  on 
nutritious,  and  healthy  food.  It  is  of  the  highest  importance, 
therefore,  to  know  how  so  to  produce  the  milk,  as  well  as  to 
economize,  in  every  possible  way,  the  manner  of  its  production. 

SWILL    MILK. 

It  is  known  to  every  intelligent  person  that  there  are  millions 
of  gallons  of  what  is  called  milk,  produced  in  the  neighborhoods 
of  our  largest  cities — within  them,  indeed — which  is  utterly  unfit 
for  any  edible  use  whatever, — swill  milk,  so  called,  drawn  from 
cows  fed  upon  the  refuse  of  distilleries,  and  other  garbage, 
poisonous,  and  offensive.  The  whole  internal  system  of  the 
cows,  so  fed,  becomes  distempered.  The  foetid  liquid  merely 
percolates  through  the  diseased  glands  and  milk  veins  of  the 
cow,  and  is  drawn  off  in  the  color  of  milk,  without  its  proper 
substance,  and  to  the  detriment,  instead  of  nourishment,  of  every 
stomach  into  which,  either  directly  or  indirectly,  it  enters. 

Every  such  milk  dairy  is  a  common  nuisance;  and  as  such  it 
should  be  suppressed,  and  the  owners  and  keepers  of  them  sum- 
marily punished,  both  by  fine,  and  imprisonment.  And  if  a 
"Humane  Society,"  or  a  "Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty 
to  Animals"  exist  in  the  vicinity  of  where  these  nuisances  are 
kept,  the  first  should  compel  the  health  authorities  of  the  munici- 
palities to  prohibit  the  sale  of  their  milk,  and  thus  cease  poison- 
ing children,  and  the  other  should  rescue  the  poor  suffering  cows 
from  further  torture,  and  a  lingering  death.  It  would  be  so  in  a 
country  where  law  is  enforced — for  we  already  have  law  enough 


SALE    MILK    DAIRIES.  335 

to  abate  these  nuisances — but  we  fear  that  nothing  less  than  a 
knowledge  of  the  imposition,  and  a  determination  on  the  part  of 
those  concerned,  to  refrain  from  the  use  of  the  article,  will  help 
the  matter.  On  persons  concerned  in  such  establishments,  our 
words,  if  they  ever  see  them,  will  make  no  impression,  and  we 
therefore  address  ourselves  to  those  who  pursue  an  honest  and 
honorable  business  in  their  own  legitimate  dairies. 

GOOD    MILK. 

The  establishment  and  management  of  a  sale  milk  dairy,  is 
altogether  different  from  the  butter  and  cheese  dairy.  It  is  to 
be  continuous  in  its  supply  throughout  the  year.  A  constant, 
daily  demand  is  made  upon  it.  No  calves  are  fatted;  no  rear- 
ing of  heifers  is  permitted.  If  a  cow  is  wanted,  the  dairyman 
must  strike  out  and  obtain  her  wherever  he  can,  at  any  possible 
price,  so  that  she  be  a  good  one.  If  a  cow  fails,  she  must  be 
disposed  of  at  the  best  advantage;  but  disposed  of  she  must  be, 
as  she  can  be  of  no  further  profit  to  the  concern.  It  is  simply 
an  industrial  and  commercial  matter;  <; profit  and  loss, "as  in  any 
other  business,  being  the  only  financial  items  to  be  taken  into 
account.  Therefore  the  simple  proposition  to  the  milk  dairy- 
man is,  to  get  his  buildings  in  the  best  order  of  arrangement  for 
convenience  and  economy,  and  fill  his  herd  with  the  best  cows, 
of  whatever  breed,  or  no  breed  at  all,  that  will  answer  his  pur- 
poses. His  cows  should  bring  their  calves  periodically — every 
month,  or  week,  as  his  numbers  may  be,  for  the  average  monthly 
supply  of  milk  must  be  maintained — perhaps  more  in  certain 
months  than  in  others — and  that  must  be  calculated.  He  must 
keep  a  bull,  as  that  is  the  best  economy  if  he  have  more  than 
twenty  cows,  and  there  be  none  that  he  can  use  within  a  con- 
venient distance  in  the  neighborhood.  Let  the  bull  be  as  small 
in  breed,  as  possible,  so  that  his  calves,  while  in  fcetus,  may  be 
small,  and  draw  as  little  on  the  internal  foetal  nourishment,  from 


336  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

the  cow  as  possible.  If  the  foetus  be  large,  it  will  detract  from 
her  milk  production,  which  cannot  be  afforded,  as  the  calf  when 
born  is  worthless,  and  must  be  immediately  sacrificed  to  obtain 
the  milk  for  use. 

The  dairy  once  established,  the  manner  of  keeping  the  cows 
comes  next  under  consideration.  For  summer  feeding,  the 
method  has  already  been  given  in  our  previous  pages  on  the 
summer  food  of  ordinary  dairies.  (See  Soiling.)  But  the  winter 
keeping  is  a  different  matter,  and  of  this  we  shall  go  somewhat 
into  detail.  In  treating  of  this,  as  all  sale  milk  dairies  are  kept 
in  the  vicinities  of  populous  places,  we  assume  that  land  is  dear, 
and  winter  forage  bears  corresponding  prices.  The  dairyman 
may  not  be  able  to  grow  all  his  own  hay,  or  straw,  and  may 
have  to  purchase  it.  He  may  raise  his  own  roots,  which  he 
should  do,  if  he  feeds  the  article ;  and  his  grain,  or  mill-feed,  he 
must,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  purchase.  He  must  also  give 
to  his  cows  that  kind  of  food  which  will  produce  the  greatest 
quantity  of  good  milk,  and  prepare  it  in  such  a  manner  as  to  do 
its  utmost  in  that  production.  Therefore  he  must,  or  ought  to, 
cook  it. 

COOKING   FOOD. 

We  have  given  much  thought  to  this  subject, — and  some  little 
observation,  although  we  have  not  personally  applied  the  cooking 
process  to  cattle  feeding.  "We  are,  however,  happy  to  again 
avail  ourselves  of  the  authority  of  Mr.  Stewart. 

We  so  fully  accord  with  his  conclusions,  that  we  at  once  adopt 
his  views,  which  we  most  opportunely  find  in  the  "  Report  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Agriculture,"  for  the  year  1865,  made  to  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  being  more  germain  to  our 
purpose  than  anything  we  can  suggest,  or  find  elsewhere.  It  is 
equally  applicable  to  fattening  cattle  for  the  shambles,  as  for 
dairy  cows,  and  may  be  referred  to  in  connection  with  our 
remarks  on  the  subject  in  a  previous  chapter. 


CUTTINQ   AND    COOKINQ   FOOD.  337 

The  article  is  entitled,  "Cutting  and  Cooking  Food  for  Ani- 
mals: By  E.  W.  Stewart,  North  Evans,  Erie  Co.,  N.  Y.:" 

WHY    FODDER    SHOULD    BE    CUT. 

"The  object  of  mastication  of  food  is  to  comminute  it,  to  break 
down  its  structure,  and  to  render  it  more  easily  acted  upon  by 
the  gastric  juice,  thus  enabling  the  animal  to  appropriate  its 
nutriment.  Now,  the  more  finely  divided,  food  is,  when  sub- 
jected to  the  gastric  juice,  the  more  rapidly  and  easily  it  is 
digested.  For  when  finely  divided  it  presents  many  hundred 
times  more  surface  to  the  action  of  the  digesting  fluid.  This 
is  simply  represented  in  cooking  fine  meal  or  whole  grain.  We 
know  it  takes  but  a  few  minutes  to  cook  the  meal,  while  hours 
are  required  to  soften  the  whole  grain. 

"When  cattle  eat  succulent  food,  the  fibre  is  easily  broken 
and  reduced  to  a  pulpy  mass;  but  not  so  with  dry,  woody  fibre, 
which  must  be  broken  and  comminuted  before  the  food  contained 
in  it  is  accessible  for  animal  nutrition.  This  the  animal  seldom 
does,  and  more  especially  th-e  non-ruminating;  therefore,  it 
becomes  highly  necessary  that  we  should  use  machinery  to  assist 
the  animal,  as  much  as  possible,  in  extracting  the  nutriment  con- 
tained in  dry  food.  And  if  it  be  profitable  to  cut  hay,  straw 
arid  other  coarse  fodder,  for  the  purpose  of  breaking  the  fibre, 
and  rendering  it  more  easy  of  mastication  and  digestion  by  the 
animal,  then  it  is  well  to  cut  or  divide  it  as  finely  as  is  consist- 
ent with  economy.  There  is  no  danger  of  inventing  machinery 
which  will  cut  or  pulverize  it  too  finely.  The  great  want  now 
is,  a  machine,  cheap  and  durable,  which  shall  reduce  woody  fibre 
to  pulp.  This  will  require  a  machine  which  shall  bruise  as  well 
as  cut,  so  as  to  leave  the  whole  fibre  thoroughly  mashed  and 
divided.  It  will  not  be  liable  to  the  objection  urged,  that  it  will 
leave  nothing  for  the  animal  to  do;  for  this  dry  fibre,  when 
reduced  to  the  greatest  degree  practicable,  will  still  require  more 
15 


338  AMERICAN    CATTLE 

mastication  than  green  grass.     Our  whole  effort  in  cutting  and 
steaming  is  merely  to  produce  an  imitation  of  nature's  green  food. 

MIXING    DIFFERENT    QUALITIES    OF    FOOD. 

"  Here,  another  advantage  not  to  be  overlooked,  is,  that  it  ena- 
bles the  feeder  to  mix  different  qualities  of  food  together,  making 
it  all  palatable,  and  thus  saving  all.  This  is  a  matter  of  great 
importance,  and  alone  would  vastly  more  than  pay  all  the  expense 
of  cutting.  In  this  manner,  poor  straw  and  good  hay  may  be 
mixed,  coarse  swale  meadow  hay  with  fine  hay,  corn  stalks  with 
hay,  and  pea  or  bean  straw  with  hay,  when  the  poorer  qualities 
would  not  be  eaten  alone;  or,  if  hay  be  scarce  or  of  too  high 
price,  cut  straw  may  be  made  equivalent  to  the  best  hay,  by  mix- 
ing two  quarts  of  fine  middlings  or  bran,  or  one  quart  of  corn 
meal  with  a  bushel  of  straw. 

"  The  writer  of  this  paper  has  practiced  cutting  and  steaming 
fodder,  of  all  kinds,  in  winter,  for  a  stock  numbering  from  ten  to 
fifty-five  neat  cattle  and  horses,  during  the  last  ten  years.  He 
therefore  deems  his  experience  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  speak 
with  some  degree  of  confidence.  He  tried  a  long  series  of  experi- 
ments, to  determine  the  quantity  of  middlings  or  meal  necessary 
to  mix  with  a  bushel  of  straw,  to  render  it  equivalent  to  the  best 
hay.  Ten  animals  of  about  uniform  size,  standing  in  the  same 
stable,  were  parted — five  being  fed  upon  hay,  and  five  upon  the 
mixture.  At  first,  four  quarts  of  middlings  were  mixed  with  a 
bushel  of  straw.  The  animals  were  fed  for  one  month — five 
upon  this  mixture,  and  five  upon  the  hay.  Those  fed  upon  the 
mixture  were  found  to  gain  decidedly  upon  those  fed  upon  the 
hay  alone. 

"  The  experiment  was  then  reversed,  putting  those  upon  the 
mixture  that  had  fed  upon  the  hay,  and  vice  versa.  At  the  end 
of  the  month  those  fed  upon  the  straw  and  middlings  had  gained 
rapidly,  while  those  fed  upon  the  hay  had  hardly  held  their  con 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING    FOOD.  339 

dition.  Then  the  experiment  was  continued  by  reducing  the 
quantity  of  middlings  one-half,  or  two  quarts,  on  which  mixture 
the  animals  did  rather  better  than  those  upon  hay,  while,  upon 
reversing,  those  at  first  fed  upon  the  hay  when  fed  upon  this 
mixture  did  better  than  those  on  hay.  Upon  several  trials  after- 
wards, it  was  uniformly  found  that  a  bushel  of  straw  with  two 
quarts  of  middlings  was  quite  equal  to  the  same  weight  of  cut 
hay,  and  was  worth  twenty-five  per  cent,  more  than  uncut  hay. 
It  was  found  that  the  animals  would  eat  twenty-five  per  cent, 
more  hay  uncut  than  cut.  The  same  experiment  was  then  tried 
with  corn  meal,  and  one  and  one-half  pints  were  found  to  make 
a  bushel  of  straw  equal  to  hay,  though  the  formula  is  generally 
given  as  a  quart  to  a  bushel  of  straw,  which  will  render  almost 
any  quality  of  straw  equal  to  the  same  weight  of  good  timothy 
hay. 

"The  writer  has  found  for  many  years  that  he  can  winter  his 
stock  in  better  condition  on  straw  and  middlings,  or  meal,  in  the 
proportions  given,  than  on  hay.  This  is  a  large  item  near  a  good 
hay  market,  and  where  straw  is  worth  but  little,  or  in  a  grain 
country,  where  little  else  than  straw  is  raised  as  fodder  for  ani- 
mals. In  this  way  all  the  coarse  fodder  on  the  farm,  of  every 
description,  may  be  consumed  by  animals,  and  thus  turned  into 
money.  Where  steaming  is  practiced  there  is  also  a  large  profit. 
Besides,  this  enables  the  feeder  to  prepare  a  special  food  to  pro- 
duce such  special  results  as  he  may  desire.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  intelligent  feeder  may  increase  the  frame,  or  muscle,  or 
fat  of  an  animal  exclusively,  or  he  may  increase  them  all  together. 
If  he  wishes  to  increase  the  frame  and  muscle  particularly,  he 
will  give  food  rich  in  phosphate  of  lime  and  gluten,  without  hav- 
ing much  oil  or  a  large  proportion  of  starch ;  and  for  this  pnr- 
pose,  pea  or  bean  meal,  mixed  with  his  coarse  fodder,  will  pro- 
duce the  desired  result.  If  he  wishes  to  lay  on  fat  principally, 
he  will  use  corn  meal  or  oil  meal.  If  to  produce  growth  of  the 


340  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

animal  in  frame  and  muscle,  as  well  as  fat,  let  him  mix  the  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  food  together.  Thus  he  may  produce  such  results 
as  he  pleases,  and,  at  the  same  time,  use  what  would  otherwise 
be  refuse  and  waste. 

"It  is  shown,  by  accurate  observation,  that  hay,  straw,  or 
other  coarse  fodder,  when  well  cut,  is  more  uniformly  digested  by 
both  neat  cattle,  horses,  and  sheep,  than  uncut.  In  England, 
large  feeders  have  estimated  the  gain  in  nutriment  and  saving  of 
waste  in  hay  to  be  equal  to  twenty-five  per  cent.  Some  experi- 
menters in  this  country  have  estimated  the  gain  even  higher,  and 
certainly  the  gain  is  more  in  cutting  coarse  fodder  than  on  hay. 

WHAT    IS    GAINED    IN    CUTTING    FOR    A    SMALL    STOCK. 

"An  experiment  will  illustrate  the  profit  of  cutting.  When 
keeping  a  small  stock,  which  would  consume  thirty  tons  of  hay 
in  a  winter,  seven  tons  of  hay  were  sold,  and  seven  tons  of  mid- 
dlings bought  and  used  upon  cut  straw,  (two  quarts  upon  a 
bushel,)  and  the  stock  wintered  in  fine  condition.  The  straw 
was  thus  turned  into  twenty-three  tons  of  hay,  worth,  that  year, 
$18  per  ton  in  barn,  or  $405;  (generally  it  is  worth  $12  per 
ton.)  Hay,  in  most  localities,  is  worth  as  much  per  ton  as  mid- 
dlings, and  half  to  three-fourths  as  much  as  corn  meal ;  therefore 
the  avails  of  one-fourth  the  quantity  of  hay  requisite  to  winter  a 
stock  of  animals,  will  purchase  the  middlings  or  meal  necessary 
to  use  upon  the  straw,  and  the  hay  (or  its  value)  be  saved  to  the 
farmer.  Indeed,  from  long  practice,  the  economy  of  the  straw 
cutter  is  as  well  established  with  the  writer  of  this  article  as  that 
of  the  mowing  machine. 

"  But  it  is  sometimes  said  that  it  may  pay  on  a  small  scale,  and 
accordingly  many  small  hand  machines  are  found  by  which  far- 
mers cut  for  a  few  cows,  or  a  pair  of  horses,  still  feeding  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  their  stock  uncut  food.  In  this  idea  the  ordinary 
rule  of  manufacturers  is  reversed,  viz.:  that  what  will  pay  upon 


CUTTING   AND    COOKING    FOOD.  341 

a  small  scale  will  pay  much  better  on  a  large  scale.  It  costs 
more  in  proportion  to  make  one  wagon  than  one  hundred;  so 
it  costs  more  in  proportion  to  cut  fodder  for  five  animals  than 
for  fifty.  To  show  that  it  pays  on  a  large  scale,  to  cut  hay,  we 
have  only  to  refer  to  the  fact  that  the  large  omnibus  lines  and 
street  railroad  companies  of  our  large  cities  cut  all  the  hay  and 
coarse  fodder  used  for  their  hundreds  of  horses.  These  com- 
panies have  learned,  from  practical  experience,  that  the  saving  is 
many  times  the  cost  of  cutting. 

""When  cutting  is  done  for  a  large  stock,  with  the  largest  size 
two-horse  machine,  it  takes  but  little  longer  to  cut  a  ton  of  hay 
than  to  handle  it  without  cutting.  Horse  or  steam  power  is  much 
cheaper  than  hand  power  when  more  than  a  few  animals  are  to 
be  fed. 

STRAW    CUTTERS. 

"Much  improvement  has  been  made  within  a  few  years  in  the 
construction  of  straw  cutters.  It  is  of  the  highest  importance  in 
selecting  a  machine,  to  get  one  that  cuts  short  and  with  perfect 
regularity ;  and  to  this  end  great  attention  must  be  paid  to  the 
feed  apparatus.  Unless  the  hay  or  straw  is  delivered  to  the 
knives  with  perfect  regularity,  the  work  will  be  badly  done.  The 
greatest  fault  of  most  machines  is  the  defect  in  this  part  of  the 
machinery.  Some  are  fed  by  hand.  These  should  be  discarded, 
as  there  can  in  this  way  be  no  regularity  of  cut.  A  short  and 
regular  cut  secured,  next  in  importance  is  strength,  simplicity, 
and  durability.  The  perfection  of  this  kind  of  machine  is  yet  to 
be  invented  which  shall  mash  or  pulp  the  fodder. 

COOKING  FOOD  FOR  ANIMALS. 

"  Steaming  food  is  less  practised  but  even  more  important 
than  cutting.  Cooking  food  for  animals  is  of  comparatively 
recent  date.  A  brief  notice  of  its  rationale  will  demonstrate  its 
imoortance,  as  well  to  animals  as  to  man. 


342  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"Pereira  says:  'To  render  starchy  substances  digestible,  they 
require  to  be  cooked,  in  order  to  break  or  crack  the  grains ;  for 
of  the  different  lamina  of  which  each  grain  consists,  the  outer 
ones  are  the  most  cohesive,  and  present  the  greatest  resistance 
to  the  digestive  power  of  the  stomach,  while  the  internal  ones 
are  least  so.'  'Starch,'  says  Raspail,  ' is  not  actually  nutritive 
to  man  until  it  has  been  boiled  or  cooked.  The  heat  of  the  stom- 
ach is  not  sufficient  to  burst  all  the  grains  of  the  feculent  mass 
which  is  subjected  to  the  rapid  action  of  this  organ.  The  stom- 
achs of  graminivorous  animals  and  birds  seem  to  possess,  in  this 
respect,  a  particular  power,  for  they  use  feculent  substances  in  a 
raw  state.  Nevertheless,  recent  experiments  prove  the  advan- 
tage that  results  from  boiling  the  potatoes  and  grain,  and  par- 
tially altered  farina,  which  are  given  to  them  for  food;  for  a  large 
proportion,  when  given  whole,  in  the  raw  state,  passes  through 
the  intestine  perfectly  unaffected  as  when  swallowed.'  Bracon- 
not  found  unbroken  starch  grains  in  the  excrement  of  hot-blooded 
animals  fed  on  raw  potatoes ;  hence  he  adds,  '  the  potatoes 
employed  for  feeding  cattle,  should  be  boiled,  since,  independently 
of  the  accidents  which  may  arise  from  the  use  of  them  in  a  raw 
state,  a  considerable  quantity  of  alimentary  matter  is  lost  by  the 
use  of  these  tubers  in  the  unboiled  state.' 

"So  much  for  the  effect  of  heat  upon  grain  and  roots;  but  it 
may  be  asked  whether  we  can  derive  the  same  benefit  from  cook- 
ing hay,  straw,  and  other  coarse  fodder  for  stock.  Th«  following 
quotation  from  Regnalt  will  show  what  difference  exists  between 
them,  the  stems  containing  woody  fibre  as  well  as  cellulose,  while 
roots  and  grains  do  not: 

"  'A  microscopic  examination  of  the  various  component  parts 
of  plants,  shows  them  all  to  be  constituted  of  cellular  tissue,  vary- 
ing in  form  according  to  the  part  of  the  vegetable  subjected  to 
examination.  The  cavities  of  the  tissue  are  filled  with  very 
diversified  matter;  sometimes,  as  in  the  case  of  wood,  the  pari- 
etes  of  the  cells  are  covered  by  a  hard  and  brittle  substance 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING   FOOD.  343 

called  lignin,  or  woody  fibre,  which  frequently  almost  completely 
fills  their  interstices;  while,  at  other  times,  as  in  the  grains  of 
the  cerealia,  potatoes  and  other  tubers,  the  cells  contain  a  quan- 
tity of  small  ovoidal  globules,  'varying  in  size,  constituting  fecula 
or  starch;  and  lastly,  in  the  case  of  the  young  organs  of  plants, 
the  cells  contain  only  a  more  or  less  viscous  fluid,  holding  in  solu- 
tion mineral  salts  and  various  organic  substances,  the  principal  of 
which  are  gums,  gelatinous  combinations,  designated  by  the  gen- 
eral name  of  albuminous  substances.1  We  conclude,  then,  that 
if  heat  aids  in  rendering  the  nutritive  principles  of  roots  and 
grains  more  accessible  to  the  assimulating  faculty,  it  will  also 
assist  in  softening  the  fibre  of  hay  and  straw.  The  cell  walls 
which  imprison  the  alimentary  substances  mentioned,  will,  by  the 
joint  processes  of  cutting  and  steaming,  be  more  or  less  broken 
and  weakened. 

"  The  following  extract  from  Johnston's  Agricultural  Chemis- 
try, shows  the  further  effect  of  heat  upon  starch  itself: 

"'When  wheat  flour,  potato,  or  arrowroot  starch  is  spread 
upon  a  tray  and  gradually  heated  in  an  oven  to  a  temperature 
not  exceeding  300°  F.,  it  slowly  changes,  acquires  a  yellow  or 
brownish  tint,  according  to  the  temperature  employed,  and  be- 
comes entirely  soluble  in  cold  water.  It  is  changed  into  dextrin 
gum.  *  *  *  During  the  baking  of  bread  this  conversion  of 
starch  into  gum  takes  place  to  a  considerable  extent.  Thus  Vogel 
found  that  flour  which  contained  no  gum,  gave,  when  baked,  a 
bread  of  which  eighteen  per  cent.,  or  nearly  one-fifth  of  the 
whole  weight,  consisted  of  gum.  Thus,  one  result  of  baking,  is 
to  render  the  flour  starch  more  soluble,  and  therefore  more  easily 
digested.'  Of  starch  he  says:  'It  is  a  property  of  starch  of  all 
kinds,  to  be  insoluble  in  cold  water,  but  to  dissolve  readily  in 
boiling  water,  and  to  thicken  into  a  jelly,  or  paste,  as  it  cools.' 
It  is  supposed  that,  by  digestion,  starch  becomes  converted  into 
gum  or  sugar,  and  the  latter  probably  becomes  absorbed.  It  is 
also  an  element  of  respiration,  and,  according  to  Liebig,  con- 


344  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

tributes  to  the  formation  of  fat  in  animals.  His  theory  is,  no 
doubt,  well  founded,  and  explains  the  fattening  of  animals  when 
fed  upon  Indian  corn. 

VALUE    OF    STRAW,  ANALYSES,  ETC. 

"Few  farmers  are  aware  of  the  value  of  straw.  By  the  pres- 
ent system  of  feeding  in  this  country,  little  or  no  account  is 
made  of  it.  It  serves  mostly  as  litter  for  animals.  Let  us 
examine  the  general  analysis  of  straw,  as  compared  with  the  for- 
age crops  and  grains.  The  following  table  is  from  the  Cyclo- 
paedia of  Agriculture: 

Average  composition  of  wheat  straw. 
"Dried  at  212°  Fahrenheit,   100   parts   con- 
tain nitrogenous  substances,  or — 
Muscle-producing  substances,  .         .         .       2.05 

Heat-producing  substances,         .         .         .         35.06 
"Woody  fibre,         .         .         .         .         .         .     56.87 

Mineral  substances,    .         .         .         .         .  6.02 


100.00 
Corn  fodder  and  lean  straw. 

(J.  H.  Salisbury.)  (Prof.  Way.) 
Corn  fodder.    Bean  straw. 

'Flesh-forming  matters,          .         .  8.200  16.38 

Heat  and  fat-producing  matters,  35.273  33.86 

"Woody  fibre,        ....  50.251  25.84 

Mineral  matters,        .         .         .         9.45 

Water.  6.276  14.47 


100.000       100.00 

Cultivated  grasses,  average,  dried  at  213°  Fahrenheit. 

(Prof.  Way.) 

"  Flesh-forming  principles,        ....      10.34 
Fat-producing  principles,  .         .         .         .  2.51 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING    FOOD. 


345 


Heat-producing  principles, 

"Woody  fibre, 

Mineral  matters  or  ash, 


41.29 

37.18 

8.68 


100.00 

(It  will  be  seen  that  good  hay  is  altogether  more  profitable 
food  for  either  flesh,  or  milk,  than  any  straw. — L.  F.  A.) 

Indian  corn  and  wheat  Iran. 


Ind.  corn. 

suui  j.; 

Wheat  bran. 

"Flesh-forming  principles, 

.      15.192 

18.00 

Heat-producing  principles,    . 

78.866 

63.00 

Fat-producing  principles, 

5.945 

6.00 

Water,        

13.00 

100.000 

100.00 

Oats  and  rye. 

(Emmons.) 

(Johnson.) 

Oats. 

Rye. 

"Flesh-forming  principles, 

.       18.447 

16.00 

Heat-producing  principles, 

73.376 

69.00 

Fat-producing  principles, 

.       8.179 



Soluble  phosphates, 



3.06 

Water,            .... 



11.04 

100.002 

99.10 

Barley. 

(Johnson.) 

"Flesh-forming  principles, 

. 

6.1 

Heat  and  fat-producing  principles, 

. 

69.3 

Husk,     

. 

.     13.8 

Water, 

10.8 

Beans  and  peas. 

•Husks 

Legumin,  Albumen,  &c.. 


Peas. 

8.3 

26.4 


100.00 

Beans. 
7.0 

23.6 


34G  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

Starch, 43.6  43.0 

Sugar,              2.0  0.2 

Gum,  &c., 4.0  1.5 

Oil  and  fat, 1.2  0.7 

Salts  and  loss, 2.0  1.0 

Water, 12.5  23.0 

100.00    100.00 

"The  analysis  of  wheat  straw,  cornstalks,  and  bean  straw,  will 
show  at  once  the  large  amount  of  nutritive  matter  they  contain, 
besides  that  denominated  wood  fibre.  Bean  straw  and  wheat 
bran,  it  will  be  seen,  are  very  rich  in  nitrogenous  matter,  and 
therefore  will  build  up  the  muscular  system  of  the  animal.  From 
long  experience  we  have  found  wheat  bran  to  be  equal,  prac- 
tically, to  the  analysis.  If  steamed,  we  regard  it  as  valuable, 
per  weight,  as  corn  meal.  Its  analysis  indicates  that  it  has  more 
muscle-forming  matter  than  corn.  This  will  indicate  the  impor- 
tant use  that  farmers  should  make  of  bran,  when  it  is  to  be  had 
for  the  price  of  hay,  in  feeding  cows  and  young  animals.  An 
examination  of  these  analyses  will  show  readily  how  to  mix  a 
proper  food,  to  build  up  all  parts  of  the  animal  system. 

STEAM  APPARATUS. 

"It  will  now  be  in  order  to  give  the  reader  a  detailed  account 
of  the  manner  of  conducting  this  cooking  process.  A  perfect 
steam  apparatus  is  yet  to  be  invented.  Many  methods  are  used. 
The  writer  will  describe  the  one  he  uses,  and  also  a  simpler  and 
cheaper  one  for  a  small  stock. 

"The  one  he  has  now  in  use,  consists  of  a  wrought-iron  cylin- 
der, one-eighth  inch  thick,  thirty  inches  in  diameter,  four  feet 
long,  with  one-quarter  inch  iron  heads.  The  front  end  has  an 
elliptical  opening,  by  which  to  draw  off  the  water  and  clean  it 
out,  secured,  when  in  use,  by  an  iron  stopper  with  rubber  pack 
ing.  On  the  top  is  another  like  opening,  through  which  to  fill 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING    FOOD.  347 

it  with  water,  and  secured  in  like  manner.  An  iron  pipe,  one 
and  a  half  inch  in  diameter,  is  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  boiler, 
passes  over  the  side  of  the  brick-work,  and  down  to  the  bottom 
of  the  steam  box,  where  it  enters  the  side  near  the  center.  This 
boiler  is  set  in  brick-work,  in  a  horizontal  position.  It  is  raised 
about  sixteen  inches  above  the  fire  bed  or  grate.  The  fire  is 
conducted  under  the  length  of  the  boiler,  and  partly  up  the  back 
end;  then  carried  along  each  side,  to  near  the  front  end  in  a  flue, 
and  carried  back  to  the  chimney  in  another  flue  above  this.  This 
leaves  the  front  end  of  the  boiler  exposed,  in  which  there  is  a 
cock  from  which  to  draw  hot  water  if  wanted.  My  steam  box 
is  made  of  matched  pine  plank,  one  and  a  quarter  inch  thick. 
It  is  four  and  a  half  by  five  feet,  and  three  feet  deep,  holding 
over  fifty  bushels  of  feed.  It  might  be  larger  if  the  stock 
required  it,  as  my  boiler  generates  steam  enough  for  one  hundred 
and  fifty  bushels.  The  box  is  closed  with  a  wooden  cover. 

PREPARING    FOOD    FOR    STEAMING. 

"The  feed  is  prepared  for  steaming,  thus:  The  cut  straw,  hay 
and  straw,  roots,  or  other  cut  feed,  sufficient  to  fill  the  steam  box, 
is  measured  in  a  square  six-bushel  basket.  It  is  then  moistened 
by  a  four-gallon  watering  pot,  with  twenty  gallons  of  water  to 
fifty  bushels  of  feed,  while  it  is  being  stirred  up  with  a  fork. 
Then  two  quarts  of  wheat  bran  to  the  bushel  of  straw,  is  mixed 
in  the  same  manner,  and  a  little  salt  added,  when  it  is  put  into 
the  steam  box  and  steamed  for  an  hour  and  a  half.  This  feed 
will  keep  warm  for  two  days  in  the  coldest  weather. 

"The  reader  will  readily  see  the  defect  in  this  arrangement,  as, 
with  such  a  steam  box,  no  considerable  pressure  can  be  obtained ; 
hence  it  does  not  reduce  the  feed  to  such  a  pulp  as  is  desirable. 
Yet  it  modifies  and  softens  it  very  much.  My  boiler  would 
safely  bear  a  pressure  of  thirty  pounds  to  the  inch,  and,  with  an 
iron  steam  box,  the  feed  could  as  cheaply  be  put  under  that  pres- 


348  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

sure,  and  reduced  to  such,  a  pulp  as  is  desirable,  as  it  now  is, 
steamed  in  the  wooden  box.  When  iron  work  shall  be  reduced 
to  the  price  charged  before  the  war,  an  apparatus  with  iron  boiler 
and  iron  steam  box,  will  be  within  the  easy  expenditure  of  every 
considerable  cattle  feeder,  costing  not  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars.  This  amount  would  be  more  than  made  up  by  its  use 
for  a  single  year. 

CHEAP    STEAMER. 

""We  will  next  give  a  description  of  a  very  simple  apparatus, 
which  is  within  the  reach  of  every  farmer.  It  is  described,  with- 
out the  improvement  which  should  be  made  to  it,  in  the  transac- 
tions of  the  American  Institute  for  1863.  'Get  a  sheet  of  No. 
18  iron,  (No.  16  would  be  better,)  thirty-two  to  thirty-six  inches 
wide,  and  seven  or  eight  feet  long,  (or  two  sheets  may  be  riveted 
together,  and  thus  make  one  fourteen  feet  long,  if  much  work  is 
to  be  done.)  Take  2-inch  pine  plank,  (maple  would  be  better,) 
about  two  feet  wide;  let  the  sides  extend  three  inches  past  the 
end  plank;  make  a  box  a  little  flaring  at  the  top,  and  wide  and 
long  enough,  so  that  the  bottom  sheet  will  cover  and  project 
half  an  inch  on  each  side  and  end.  Let  the  ends  into  the  sides, 
%  to  %-inch,  in  making  the  box,  and  put  it  together  with  white 
lead  and  oil,  and  put  two  %-inch  iron  rods  through  the  sides  at 
each  end,  outside  of  the  end  plank;  then  nail  on  the  bottom 
sheet  with  two  rows  of  five-penny  nails,  the  nails  about  one  inch 
apart  in  the  rows,  and  breaking  joints,  and  bend  up  the  sheet 
where  it  projects.'  This  will  hold  some  thirty  bushels.  'Now 
take  flat  stones  or  bricks,  and  make  a  fireplace  the  length  of 
your  box,  and  eight  inches  narrower  on  the  inside,  than  your 
box  is  wide  on  the  outside.'  Fire  bed  should  be  sixteen  or 
eighteen  inches  deep.  'Put  across  at  each  end,  a  flat  bar  of 
iron,  K  by  IK  inches,  so  as  to  lay  a  row  of  bricks  on  these  for 
the  ends  of  the  box  to  rest  on,  and  at  the  back  end,  let  the  arch 
run  out  so  as  to  build  a  small  chimney,  and  put  on  some  joints 
of  stove  pipe,  and  you  have  a  cooking  apparatus.'  This  is  a 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING    FOOD.  349 

good  boiling  arrangement,  where  only  water,  or  some  thin  liquid 
is  to  be  heated;  but  if  hay  or  straw,  or  even  potatoes,  are  to  be 
boiled  with  little  water,  as  would  be  the  case,  especially  in  steam- 
ing fodder,  it  would  settle  and  burn  on  the  bottom.  "We  have 
many  times  tried  this  in  a  large  kettle,  with  this  result.  This 
difficulty  can  be  obviated  entirely,  and  a  good  steaming  appara- 
tus be  made  of  it,  by  placing  a  false  bottom  one  inch  above  the 
real  bottom.  This  may  be  done  in  the  following  manner:  Take 
a  sheet  of  No.  18  iron,  of  the  size  of  the  box,  or,  perhaps,  one- 
half  inch  wider;  have  this  punched  with  small  holes,  so  as  to  let 
the  water  down  and  the  steam  up.  It  can  be  let  into  the  side 
of  the  box,  or  a  half-inch  cleat  can  be  nailed  on  the  side  and  end 
of  the  box,  for  it  to  rest  on.  This  would  not  sufficiently  support 
the  weight  of  feed  to  put  on  it,  and,  therefore,  %-inch  rods  must 
be  put  through  the  sides,  under  this  false  bottom,  to  sustain  it — 
one,  perhaps,  every  foot.  Then  a  wooden  or  iron  faucet,  must 
be  put  through  the  side,  between  these  bottoms,  to  draw  off  the 
water.  Now,  a  wooden  cover,  on  the  top  of  the  box,  to  keep 
the  steam  in,  and  here  is  as  complete,  effectual,  and  cheap  a 
steamer  for  cooking  without  pressure,  as  can  be  desired.  The 
whole  apparatus  would  not,  probably,  cost  over  $25,  for  the 
seven  feet,  or  $50  for  the  fourteen  feet  length.  This  largest 
size  would  be  ample  for  fifty  to  seventy-five  head  of  cattle  and 
horses.  The  chimney  should  be  as  long  as  the  steam  box,  to 
make  a  proper  draft. 

"  There  is,  also,  D.  R.  Prindle's  agricultural  caldron  and  steamer, 
a  portable  apparatus  used  for  boiling  and  steaming.  It  has  been 
used  in  various  parts  of  the  country,  and  highly  spoken  of,  for 
its  convenience  in  being  adapted  to  cooking  for  stock,  as  well  as 
for  most  other  heating  purposes  on  the  farm. 

ARRANGEMENT    FOR    A    LARGE    STOCK. 

"For  the  benefit  of  those  who  wish  to  feed  a  large  stock,  one 
to  two  hundred  head  of  cattle,  or  more,  we  will  suggest  an 


350  AMERICAN'    CATTLE. 

arrangement  which  will  save  much  labor,  economize  the  material, 
and  produce  more  uniform  results. 

"A  portable  steam  engine  of  five  horse  power  provided,  we 
will  arrange  the  animals,  steam  box,  food,  &c.,  as  follows: 

"The  stables  are  in  the  lower  story,  on  each  side  of  a  feeding 
floor  ten  feet  wide.  It  would  be  more  convenient  to  have  room 
behind  each  tier  of  animals,  to  pass  a  cart,  or  Avagon,  to  carry  off 
the  manure,  than  to  throw  it  out  at  the  side.  A  wooden  track 
should  be  laid  in  the  center  of  the  feeding  floor,  on  which  to  run 
the  steam  boxes.  Two,  liolding  one  hundred  bushels  each,  should 
be  provided  for  one  hundred  cattle.  One  would  be  run  under  the 
upper  floor  to  be  filled  and  steamed,  and  then  moved  away  for 
use;  while  the  other  could  be  run  to  the  spot,  filled  and  steamed. 
On  the  upper  floor,  the  straw  cutter  would  be  placed,  provided 
with  a  feeding  apron  to  feed  itself,  with  two  bins  overhead,  one 
for  cut  hay  or  straw,  the  other  for  meal  and  bran.  Elevators,  to 
carry  up  the  cut  feed  from  the  straw  cutter  to  the  feed  bin,  as 
fast  as  cut,  would  be  necessary. 

"There  would  also  be  necessary,  a  water  pipe  connected  with 
a  pump  or  an  elevated  reservoir,  to  furnish  water  to  moisten  the 
feed.  A  tank  might  be  placed  overhead  and  filled  by  a  force 
pump.  Then,  in  a  scuttle  through  the  floor,  directly  over  the 
steam  box,  there  will  be  placed  a  cask  or  cylinder,  three  feet  in 
diameter  and  five  feet  long,  without  a  bottom,  but  a  bar  across 
the  lower  end,  on  which  an  upright  revolving  shaft  will  be  set 
in  the  center,  provided  with  six  arms,  just  long  enough  to  turn 
inside.  This  shaft  will  pass  through  a  like  cross-bar  on  the  top, 
and  extending  above  enough  to  receive  a  pulley  of  the  proper 
size,  to  revolve  it  some  six  hundred  times  per  minute.  Now,  a 
spout  will  extend  from  the  elevated  feed  bin  to  the  top  of  this 
cylinder,  with  a  slide  to  open  or  shut  it;  also,  a  spout  extending 
from  the  meal  or  bran  bin,  so  as  to  communicate  in  the  same 
way  with  the  cylinder,  and  a  water-pipe,  also,  furnished  with 


CUTTING   AND    COOKING   FOOD.  351 

stop-cock  and  movable  cover,  will  be  placed  on  top  of  the  cylin- 
der. A  belt  will  run  from  the  engine  to  the  pulley  on  top  of  this 
shaft.  Now,  when  ready  to  fill  the  steam  box,  this  shaft  will  be 
set  in  motion — the  spout  for  cut  feed  will  be  opened  so  as  to  dis- 
charge a  definite  quantity,  the  spout  for  meal  opened  to  discharge 
the  proportion  desired,  and  the  water,  so  as  to  let  in  twenty  gal- 
lons for  fifty  bushels  of  feed.  It  will  be  seen  that  the  feed,  and 
meal,  and  water,  in  passing  through  the  cylinder,  will  come  in 
contact  with  these  swift  moving  arms  on  the  shaft,  and  be 
thoroughly  mixed,  and  fall  into  the  steam  box,  ready  for  steam- 
ing. The  feed  should  be  pressed  into  the  steam  box,  as  more 
will  be  steamed,  and  better.  With  this  arrangement,  one  expert 
man  may  cut  and  steam  feed  for  one  hundred  head  of  cattle,  and 
two  men  could  easily  care  for  two  hundred.  It  will  be  seen  that, 
with  proper  system  and  machinery,  the  expense  of  cutting  and 
steaming  for  a  large  stock,  will  be  little  more  than  in  the  ordinary 
way  of  feeding.  This  steam  engine  may  be  used  to  grind  the 
grain,  cut  and  steam  the  feed,  and  do  all  the  work  requiring 
stationary  power  on  the  farm.  The  engine  should  be  placed  as 
near  the  steam  box  and  straw  cutter,  as  it  can  be  with  safety. 
A  double  spark  extinguisher  must  be  placed  over  the  chimney, 
to  prevent  fire. 

RESULTS    OF    COOKING. 

"It  now  remains  for  us  to  give  the  results  of  cooking  by  the 
method  detailed. 

"  1st.  It  renders  mouldy  hay,  straw,  and  cornstalks,  perfectly 
sweet  and  palatable.  Animals  seem  to  relish  straw  taken  from 
a  stack,  which  has  been  wet  and  badly  damaged  for  ordinary  use; 
and  even  in  any  condition,  except  'dry  rot,'  steaming  will  restore 
its  sweetness.  When  keeping  a  large  stock,  we  have  often  pur- 
chased stacks  of  straw  which  would  have  been  worthless  for 
feeding,  in  the  ordinary  way,  and  have  been  able  to  detect  no 
difference,  after  steaming,  in  the  smell,  or  the  relish  with  which 
it  was  eaten. 


352  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"  2d.  It  diffuses  the  odor  of  the  bran,  corn  meal,  oil  meal, 
carrots,  or  whatever  is  mixed  with  the  feed,  through  the  whole 
massj  and  thus  it  may  cheaply  be  flavored  to  suit  the  animal. 

"3d.  It  softens  the  tough  fibre  of  the  dry  cornstalk,  rye 
straw,  and  other  hard  material,  rendering  it  almost  like  green, 
succulent  food,  and  easily  masticated  and  digested  by  the  animal. 

"4th.  It  renders  beans  and  peas  agreeable  food  to  horses,  as 
well  as  other  animals,  and  thus  enables  the  feeder  to  combine 
more  nitrogenous  food  in  the  diet  of  his  animals. 

"5th.  It  enables  the  feeder  to  turn  everything  raised  into 
food  for  his  stock,  without  lessening  the  value  of  his  manure. 
Indeed,  the  manure  made  from  steamed  food  decomposes  more 
readily,  and  is  therefore  more  valuable  than  when  used  in  a  fresh 
state.  Manure  made  from  steamed  food  is  always  ready  for  use, 
and  is  regarded  by  those  who  have  used  it  as  much  more  valuable, 
for  the  same  bulk,  than  that  made  from  uncooked  food.  (This 
manure  has  another  great  value,  as  there  can  be  no  foul  seed  in  it. 
Being  cooked,  and  dead,  they  cannot  grow. — L.  F.  A.) 

"  6th.  We  have  found  it  to  cure  incipient  heaves  in  horses, 
and  horses  having  a  cough  for  several  months  at  pasture,  have 
been  cured  in  two  weeks,  on  steamed  feed.  It  has  a  remarkable 
effect  upon  horses  with  a  sudden  cold,  and  in  constipation. 
Horses  fed  upon  it,  seem  much  less  liable  to  disease ;  in  fact,  in 
this  respect,  it  seems  to  have  all  the  good  qualities  of  grass,  the 
natural  food  of  animals. 

"  7th.  It  produces  a  marked  difference  in  the  appearance  of 
the  animal,  at  once  causing  the  coat  to  become  smooth,  and  of  a 
brighter  color — regulates  the  digestion,  makes  the  animal  more 
contented  and  satisfied,  enables  fattening  stock  to  eat  their  food 
with  less  labor,  (and  consequently  requires  less  to  keep  up  the 
animal  heat,)  gives  working  animals  time  to  eat  all  that  is  neces- 
sary for  them,  in  the  intervals  of  labor;  and  this  is  of  much 
importance,  especially  with  horses.  It  also  enables  the  feeder  to 
fatten  animals  in  one-third  less  time. 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING    POOD.  353 

"8th.  It  saves  at  least  one-third  of  the  food.  "We  have  found 
two  bushels  of  cut  and  cooked  hay  to  satisfy  cows,  as  well  as 
three  bushels  of  uncooked  hay;  and  the  manure,  in  the  case  of 
the  uncooked  hay,  contained  much  more  fibrous  matter,  unutil- 
ized by  the  animal.  This  is  more  particularly  the  case  with 
horses. 

"These  have  been  the  general  results  of  our  practice,  and,  we 
presume,  do  not  materially  differ  from  those  of  others  who  have 
given  cooked  food  a  fair  trial. 

"George  A.  Moore,  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y.,  at  the  New  York  State 
Fair  discussion,  1864,  says:  'I  was  feeding  sheep,  and  cutting 
for  them  timothy  hay,  millet,  carrots,  and  feeding  with  bean  and 
oat  meal.  Before  steaming,  I  found,  by  weighing,  I  was  putting 
on  two  pounds  of  flesh  per  week.  After  steaming,  I  put  on 
three  pounds  per  week,  and  the  stock  eat  the  food  cleaner,  and  I 
noticed  they  laid  down  quietly  after  feeding.  I  also  experimented 
with  sixty-four  cows.  Used  one  of  Prindle's  steamers;  had  a 
quantity  of  musty  hay  which  I  cut  and  steamed.  They  would 
eat  it  entirely  up,  and  seemed  better  satisfied  with  it  than  the 
sweetest  unsteamed  hay.  Steamed  food  does  not  constipate  the 
animal ;  the  hair  looks  better.  I  think  cutting  and  steaming  com- 
bined, insure  a  gain  to  the  feeder  of  at  least  thirty-three  per  cent. 
The  manure  resulting  from  feeding  steamed  food,  is  worth  double 
that  from  feeding  in  the  ordinary  way.  Have  kept  eighty  head 
of  stock,  and  had  a  surplus  of  food,  on  a  farm  where,  previously, 
only  fifty  were  carried  through,  and  hay  bought  at  that.  After 
cows  come  in,  steamed  food  increases  the  milk  one-third,  and  the 
cows  do  better  when  put  out  to  grass.' 

"George  Geddes,  in  the  same  discussion,  says:  'I  find  if  I 
take  ten  bushels  of  meal,  and  wet  it  in  cold  water,  and  feed 
twenty-five  hogs  with-it,  that  they  eat  it  well ;  but  if  I  take  the' 
same  and  cook  it,  it  will  take  the  same  number  of  hogs  twice  as 
long  to  eat  it  up,  and  I  think  they  fatten  quite  as  fast,  in  the 
same  length  of  time.  By  cooking  you  double  the  bulk.' 


354*  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"A.  B.  Conger,  ex-president  of  the  New  York  Agricultural 
Society,  said  at  same  discussion:  'But  steaming  alone  is  not 
sufficient  in  the  preparation  of  the  food.  It  must  be  first  wet,  so 
that  if  left  alone  ten  hours  it  will  heat.  "Water,  in  large  propor- 
tion, must  be  added  to  the  hay  or  straw  after  cutting.  And  so 
prepared  and  steamed,  thirty  head  of  stock  may  be  kept  on  the 
same  amount  of  food,  as  twenty  on  unprepared  food.  The 
mistake  made  in  the  early  experiments  in  this  covintry  and  Eng- 
land, was,  that  the  food  was  not  sufficiently  wet  before  steaming.' 

"Professor  Mapes  says, (Transactions  American  Institute,  1854, 
page  373):  'Raw  food  is  not  in  condition  to  be  appropriated  to 
the  tissues  of  animal  life.  The  experiment,  often  tried,  has 
proved  that  eighteen  or  nineteen  pounds  of  cooked  corn,  is  equal 
to  fifty  pounds  of  raw  corn  for  hog  food.  Mr.  Mason,  of  New 
Jersey,  found  that  pork  fed  with  raw  grain,  cost  twelve  and  a 
half  cents  a  pound,  and  that  from  cooked  food,  four  and  a  half 
cents.  Cooked  cornstalks  are  as  soft,  and  almost  as  nutritious 
as  green  stalks.  Cooking  is  an  improvement  that  pays.  Cattle 
can  be  fattened  at  about  half  the  expense  upon  cooked  food,  in  a 
warm  stable,  that  others  can  out  doors  upon  raw  food.' 

"S.  H.  Clay,  of  Kentucky,  says:  'Fed  two  hogs  on  uncooked 
corn  in  thirty  days,  405  pounds,  a,nd  they  gained  42  pounds; 
while  two  hogs  fed  on  cooked  corn  meal  for  thirty  days,  ate  270 
pounds,  and  gained  80  pounds.  The  food  was  then  reversed, 
and  the  two  hogs  that  had  previously  had  dry  corn,  were  fed  on 
cooked  meal.  In  twenty-six  days,  the  two  hogs  that  were  fed  on 
dry  food,  ate  364  pounds  of  shelled  corn,  and  gained  44  pounds; 
while  the  two  hogs  fed  on  cooked  meal,  ate,  during  the  same 
time,  only  234  pounds,  and  gained  74  pounds.'  Here  it  appears 
that  a  bushel  of  raw  corn  makes  5%  pounds  of  pork,  while  a 
bushel  of  cooked  meal  makes  17/4  pounds. 

"James  Buckingham  gives,  in  the  'Prairie  Farmer,'  an  experi- 
ment with  cooked  corn  meal,  corn  in  the  ear,  and  raw  meal.  He 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING    FOOD.  355 

put  three  hogs  into  separate  pens.  'One  ate  three  and  a  half 
bushels  of  corn  in  the  ear,  in  nine  days,  and  gained  nineteen 
pounds.  Another  ate,  in  the  same  time,  one  and  three-quarter 
bushels  of  corn  ground,  and  gained  nineteen  pounds;  while  the 
third  ate,  in  the  same  time,  one  bushel  ground  and  boiled  meal, 
and  gained  twenty-two  pounds.' 

"The  society  of  Shakers,  at  Lebanon,  N.  Y.,  communicated 
the  following  to  the  agricultural  report  of  the  Patent  Office: 
'The  experience  of  thirty  years,  leads  us  to  estimate  ground 
corn  one-third  higher  than  unground,  as  a  food  fbr  cattle,  and 
especially  for  fattening  pork.  Hence,  it  has  been  the  practice  of 
our  society,  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century,  to  grind  all 
our  provender.  The  same  induces  us  to  put  a  higher  value  upon 
cooked  than  raw  meal;  and  for  fattening  animals,  swine  particu- 
larly, we  consider  three  of  cooked,  equal  to  four  of  raw  meal. 
Our  society,  annually,  for  some  twenty-seven  years,  has  fattened 
40,000  to  50,000  pounds  of  pork,  and  it  is  the  constant  practice 
to  cook  the  meal,  for  which  purpose  six  or  seven  potash  kettles 
are  used.' 

"Such  is  the  general  tenor  of  the  testimony  of  those  who 
have  tested  cooking  fairly  in  this  country.  It  will  be  seen  that 
most  of  the  experiments  relate  to  cooking  grain.  Steaming 
coarse  fodder  has  not  been  extensively  practiced  here,  but  when 
a  fair  trial  has  been  given,  the  result  has  been  quite  satisfactory. 

"Professor  Horsfall,  of  England,  has  practiced  mixing  a 
special  food  for  milk  cows,  to  produce  a  large  yield  of  milk  of 
good  quality,  and  to  keep  up  the  flesh  of  the  cow  in  a  full  flow 
of  milk.  He  says:  'I  now  proceed  to  describe  the  means  I  am 
using,  to  carry  out  the  purposes  which  I  have  sought  to  explain. 
My  food  for  milk  cows,  after  having  undergone  various  modifica- 
cations,  has,  for  two  seasons,  consisted  of  rape  cake,  five  pounds, 
and  bran,  two  pounds,  for  each  cow,  mixed  with  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  bean  straw,  oat  straw,  and  shells  of  oats,  in  equal 


356  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

proportions,  to  supply  them  three  times  a  day,  as  much  as  they 
will  eat.  The  whole  of  the  materials  are  moistened  and  blended 
together,  and,  after  being  well  steamed,  are  given  to  the  animals 
in  a  warm  state.  The  attendant  is  allowed  one  to  one  and  a 
half  pounds  per  cow,  according  to  circumstances,  of  bean*  meal, 
which  he  is  charged  to  give  each  cow,  in  proportion  to  the  yield 
of  milk;  those  in  full  milk  getting  two  pounds  each  per  day, 
others  but  little.  It  is  dry,  and  mixed  with  the  steamed  food  on 
its  being  dealt  out  separately.  Bean  straw,  uncooked,  is  dry  and 
unpalatable;  by  the  process  of  steaming,  it  becomes  soft  and 
pulpy,  emits  an  agreeable  odor,  and  imparts  flavor  and  relish  to 
the  mess.  In  albuminous  matter,  which  is  especially  valuable 
for  milk  cows,  it  has  nearly  double  the  proportion  contained  in 
meadow  hay.  Bran  undergoes  a  great  improvement  in  its  flavor 
by  steaming,  and  is  probably  improved  in  its  convertibility  as 
food.  Rape  cake  has  a  large  proportion  (nearly  thirty  per  cent.) 
of  albumen,  rich  in  phosphate  and  oil.  *  *  *  During  May, 
my  cows  are  turned  out  on  a  rich  pasture  near  the  homestead; 
towards  evening  they  are  again  housed  for  the  night,  when  they 
are  supplied  with  a  mess  of  steamed  mixture  and  a  little  hay, 
each  morning  and  evening.  I  have  cooked,  or  steamed  food  for 
several  years,  and  my  experience  of  its  benefits  is  such,  that  if  I 
were  deprived  of  it,  I  could  not  continue  to  feed  with  satisfac- 
tion.' 

"Mr.  Mechi,  near  London,  England,  has  practiced  cutting  and 
steaming  straw,  mixed  with  materials  similar  to  Professor  Hors- 
fall.  He  estimates  straw  worth  about  ten  dollars  per  ton,  to  feed 
after  steaming.  His  experiments  have  been  quite  extensive,  and 
the  results  most  favorable  to  cooking  food.  His  practice  has  net 
generally  obtained  yet  in  England,  but  it  is  constantly  extending, 

*This  is  the  English  "horse  bean"— a  Tery  different  article  from  our  American 
field  bean— which  our  climate  does  not  well  produce.— L.  F.  A. 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING   FOOD.  357 

and  in  this  country  stock  feeders  are  just  beginning  to  turn  their 
attention  to  the  subject. 

AMOUNT    OF    STRAW    AND    COARSE    FODDER    WASTED. 

"If  we  take  the  amount  of  grain  and  Indian  corn  raised  in 
the  United  States,  as  by  the  census  of  1860,  we  shall  find,  by 
allowing  forty  bushels  of  grain  to  the  ton  of  straw  or  corn  fodder, 
that  there  were  about  30,000,000  of  tons.  Now,  at  least  one- 
third  of  this  is  wasted,  for  every  purpose  except  manure,  and 
vast  quantities  not  even  used  for  that.  Suppose  we  estimate  this 
at  one-half  the  value  put  upon  it  by  Mr.  Mechi,  or  five  dollars  per 
ton,  and  we  have  the  enormous  sum  of  $50,000,000  wasted,  for 
want  of  proper  economy,  in  a  single  year.  "We  believe  this 
estimate  much  below  the  real  loss." 

To  this  valuable  essay  of  Mr.  Stewart,  we  add  a  most  oppor 
tune  communication,  from  a  thoroughly  practical  proprietor  of  a 
sale  milk  dairy,  taken  from  a  late  number  of  "The  Country 
Gentleman,"  published  at  Albany,  N.  Y.  The  article  is  from 
Mr.  Wm.  Birnie,  of  Springfield,  Mass. 

"I  have  practiced  steaming  feed  for  my  stock  since  1858,  with 
constantly  increasing  confidence  in  its  economy.  In  the  autumn 
of  that  year  I  found  myself  with  a  stock  of  twenty  head  of  cat- 
tle to  carry  through  the  winter  with  the  forage  provided  for  six, 
and  was  consequently  forced  to  cast  about  for  the  most  econom- 
ical method  of  solving  that  seemingly  impracticable  problem.  I 
immediately  set  about  preparing  to  cut  and  steam  the  fodder. 

"My  barn  is  built  on  a  side-hill,  and  is  three  stories  in  part, 
the  principal  story  on  which  the  barn  floor  is  situated  being  level 
with  the  ground  on  the  highest  side,  and  used  entirely  for  the 
storage  of  hay,  grain,  &c.  The  next  story  below  opens  on  to 
the  barnyard,  and  is  used  for  stabling  and  a  root  cellar,  being 
under  ground  at  one  end.  Under  a  portion  of  this  story  is  a 


358  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

manure  cellar  fifty  by  twenty-eight  feet,  and  eight  feet  deep, 
which  opens  on  to  a  still  lower  yard. 

"On  the  stable  story  is  located  the  steam  arrangement.  In 
one  corner  of  the  under-ground  part,  is  the  boiler  room,  about  ten 
feet  square,  made  as  near  fire-proof  as  possible.  The  chimney 
is  built  of  brick,  on  the  outside,  against  the  corner  of  the  barn, 
and  extends  about  six  feet  above  the  roof  at  that  point.  The 
boiler  (tubular)  is  about  the  capacity  of  a  four-horse  engine.  The 
vat,  or  chest,  in  which  the  steaming  is  done,  is  built  of  brick  and 
lined  with  two-inch  plank,  tongued  and  grooved;  is  six  feet 
square  inside,  and  eigbt  feet  deep,  and  extends  from  the  stable 
floor  to  the  barn  floor  above,  with  a  lid  the  whole  size  of  the  top, 
opening  on  a  level  with  the  floor.  There  is  also  a  door  four  feet 
square  on  one  side,  near  the  bottom,  for  the  purpose  of  taking 
out  the  feed.  The  steam  pipe  passes  directly  from  the  boiler  to 
the  vat,  and  extends  around  the  four  sides  and  across  the  middle, 
about  six  inches  above  the  bottom.  It  is  perforated  with  small 
holes,  about  six  inches  apart,  for  the  escape  of  the  steam.  Con- 
veniently located  at  one  side,  above  the  vat,  is  a  cask  which  holds 
about  two  hundred  gallons  of  water,  which  is  kept  full  by  a  pipe 
connected  with  an  aqueduct. 

"The  fodder  is  cut  by  horse-power  on  the  barn  floor,  and  con- 
sists usually  of  about  one-half  corn  stalks  and  straw,  and  one-half 
good  hay.  It  is  thrown  from  the  floor  into  the  vat,  and  thor- 
oughly wet  and  mixed  with  a  small  quantity  of  meal  or  bran, 
according  to  circumstances,  continuing  the  process  until  the  vat 
is  full,  and  taking  care  to  tread  down  well,  using  as  much  water 
as  possible,  to  cause  the  fodder  to  absorb  as  much  water  as  it  will 
hold. 

"I  usually  direct  my  foreman  to  start  the  fire  in  the  boiler 
before  he  begins  to  fill  the  vat,  and  by  the  time  it  is  full  the  steam 
begins  to  pass  into  it.  I  never  attempt  to  get  up  much  pressure, 
but  let  the  steam  pass  into  the  vat  as  fast  as  it  is  generated,  and 
like  to  keep  it  on  three  or  four  hours — the  longer  the  better. 


CUTTING    AND    COOKING    FOOD.  359 

"I  feed  with  the  steamed  mixture  morning  and  evening,  and 
with  good  dry  hay  at  noon.  When  feeding  time  arrives,  the 
door  at  the  lower  side  of  the  vat  is  opened,  and  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity withdrawn  into  a  box,  and  the  door  closed  at  once  ;  it  is 
then  carried  to  the  cattle  in  a  basket,  giving  to  each  about  a 
bushel,  less  or  more,  according  to  size  and  condition.  By  the 
time  it  reaches  the  cattle  it  will  be  quite  warm,  but  not  hot. 

"Last  winter  I  steamed  but  twice  a  week,  finding  no  unfavor- 
able effect  from  keeping  the  feed  so  long.  This  was  done  to  save 
labor  and  fuel.  Three  times  a  week  is  better. 

"My  stock  for  several  years  has  consisted  of  about  fifty  head 
of  thorough  bred  Ayrshire  cattle,  and  five  horses. 

"Since  writing  the  above,  I  have  seen  the  article  by  Mr.  Stew- 
art, of  North  Evans,  N.  Y.,  and  fully  endorse  all  that  he  says  in 
regard  to  the  economy  of  this  method  of  feeding,  and  as  to  the 
condition  of  the  cattle  thus  fed,  I  consider  the  saving  even  more 
than  he  names." 

"We  close  this  prolonged  dissertation,  by  giving  the  following 
sensible  remarks  from  a  late  number  of  "The  Country  Gentle- 
man," which,  although  not  strictly  applicable  to  cooking  food,  are 
important  as  showing  the  necessity  of  fully  feeding  the  cow  for 
milk  purposes : 

"A  certain  amount  of  food  is  necessary  for  the  mere  mainte- 
nance of  the  cow.  Suppose  this  is  15  pounds  of  hay  a  day,  or 
its  equivalent  in  straw.  On  this  diet,  the  cow  gives  no  milk, 
and  does  not  increase  in  fat  or  flesh.  The  food  is  all  expended 
in  keeping  her  alive.  Now,  if  we  give  20  pounds  of  hay  a  day, 
we  may  get  one-fourth  of  a  pound  of  butter  per  day;  if  25 
pounds,  one-half  pound  of  butter  per  day;  if  30  pounds,  three- 
fourths  pound  of  butter  per  day,  and  with  35  pounds,  one  pound 
of  butter  per  day.  If  the  cow  could  eat  and  digest,  and  turn  into 
butter,  40  pounds  per  day,  we  should  get  one  and  one-quarter 
pounds  per  day.  In  other  words,  15  pounds  of  hay  per  day 
gives  us  nothing;  20  pounds  gives  us  one-quarter  pound  of  but- 


dbU  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

ter,  and  40  pounds  gives  us  one  and  one-quarter  pounds.  "We 
double  the  food,  and  get  five  times  the  amount  of  butter.  If  we 
could  get  the  cow  to  eat  and  turn  into  butter  60  pounds  of  hay 
a  day,  we  should  get  two  and  one-quarter  pounds  of  butter  per 
day.  In  other  words,  three  times  the  food  would  give  us  nine 
times  the  amount  of  butter.  If  the  cow  had  sufficient  capacity 
to  eat  and  turn  into  butter  80  pounds  of  hay  per  day,  she  would 
give  three  and  one-quarter  pounds  of  butter  per  day.  In  this 
case  we  feed  four  times  the  amount  of  food,  and  get  thirteen  times 
the  amount  of  butter. 

"To  put  the  matter  in  another  light,  suppose  a  farmer  has 
54  tons  of  hay.  If  he  fed  it  to  cows  at  the  rate  of  15  pounds 
per  cow  per  day,  it  would  be  nearly  enough  for  twenty  cows  for 
one  year.  From  these,  on  the  basis  supposed,  he  would  get 
nothing.  He  would  lose  all  his  feed,  (except  manure,)  all  his 
time  and  labor,  all  the  interest  on  the  money  invested  in  the  cows, 
and  probably  some  of  the  principal. 

"If  he  fed  20  pounds  per  day,  he  could  keep  sixteen  cows  a 
year.  These  would  give  him  28  pounds  of  butter  per  week. 

"If  he  fed  40  pounds,  he  could  keep  eight  cows  a  year,  and 
these  would  give  him  70  pounds  of  butter  a  week. 

"If  he  fed  64  pounds  per  day,  he  could  keep  five  cows  a  year, 
and  these  would  give  him  86  pounds  of  butter  per  week. 

"In  other  words,  reckoning  the  season  at  40  weeks,  the  54 
tons  of  hay  when  fed  to 


20  cows,  gives  N9ne. 

16  cows,     "    1520  pounds. 


8  cows,  gives  2800  pounds. 
Scows,     "    3420 


"Now,  if  we  could  get  our  cows  to  eat  64  pounds  of  hay  a 
day,  or  even  40  pounds  good  clover  hay,  at  the  prices  nam6d,  it 
would  be  by  far  the  cheapest  food  we  could  use.  But  this  can- 
not be  done;  the  digestive  organs  of  the  cow  are  not  powerful 
enough.  But  we  can  get  a  cow  to  eat  40,  50  or  60  pounds  of 
hay  equivalent.  We  do  this  by  feeding  in  conjunction  with  hay 
or  roots,  corn  meal,  oil  cake  or  other  food  containing  a  large 


CUTTING  AND  COOKING  FOOD.  361 

amount  of  nutriment  in  a  small  bulk.  Such  foods  may  not 
afford  a  given  amount  of  nutriment  at  as  cheap  a  rate  as  it  could 
be  got  in  hay,  but  for  the  reasons  we  have  mentioned,  may  be 
much  the  more  profitable  food  for  the  dairyman. 

"  There  is  manifestly  a  great  gain  in  giving  a  cow  all  the  food 
she  can  turn  into  butter  and  cheese,  and  the  judgment  and  skill 
of  the  dairyman  is  shown  in  ascertaining  this  amount.  Some 
cows  will  bear  much  higher  feeding  than  others. 

"The  great  aim  of  a  dairy  farmer  should  be  to  get  hay  of  the 
very  best  quality.  Few  people  realize  what  a  difference  there 
is  in  the  quality  of  hay.  The  time  of  cutting  and  the  method 
of  curing  affects  it  very  much — and  this  is  a  point  often  dis- 
cussed by  our  agricultural  writers.  But  the  quality  of  the  land 
has  equally  as  much  to  do  with  it,  and  this  is  seldom  alluded  to. 
The  hay  from  deep,  clean,  well  drained  land,  highly  manured,  is 
worth  as  much  again  per  ton  as  that  from  poor,  weedy,  wet  land. 
And  if  we  have  succeeded  in  showing  the  importance  of  more 
nutriment  in  a  given  bulk,  it  will  be  understood  how  much  we 
gain  from  having  rich  grass  lands." 

To  all  the  foregoing,  for  a  full  summary  of  the  worth  of  the 
various  kinds  of  cattle  food,  we  give  the  following  analysis  of 
nutriment  contained  in  the  articles  named,  taken  from  a  late 
number  of  the  "American  Agriculturist:" 

"  According  to  experiments  conducted  in  France  and  Germany, 
one  hundred  pounds  of  good  hay  is  equal  in  alimentary  value  to 


400  Ibs.  green  clover. 
275    "   green  Indian  corn. 
374    "   wheat  straw. 

45  Ibs.  wheat. 
54    "  barley. 
59    "   oats. 

442 
195 

"  rye  straw. 
"   oat  straw. 

57 
62 

"   Indian  corn. 
"  sunflower  seed. 

400 

"   dried  corn  stalks. 

69 

"  linseed  cake. 

275 

"  carrots. 

105 

"   wheat  bran. 

54 

"   rye. 
16 

362  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

TO    CONCLUDE    THE    SUBJECT, 

"We  might  multiply  recorded  experiments  of  the  kind,  showing, 
beyond  controversy,  the  economy  of  cooking  cattle  food,  either 
for  fattening  them  into  beef,  or  producing  milk,  during  the  winter 
season. 

In  the  various  public  discussions  which  we  have  heard  on  the 
subject,  where  experienced  and  practiced  men  have  given  their 
opinions,  the  labor  question  appeared  the  main  obstacle  to  its 
more  general  adoption.  The  extra  cost  of  preparing  the  proper 
buildings  and  machinery,  for  cutting  and  cooking  food,  offers 
another  objection.  This  may  be  a  valid  one  where  only  a  tem- 
porary pursuit  of  the  business  is  intended;  but  as  a  permanent 
occupation,  the  investment  of  the  additional  capital  required  to 
make  a  complete  and  perfect  arrangement,  is  of  paramount 
importance.  Milk  dairies  are  as  necessary,  and  wrill  be  of  as 
long  continuance,  as  the  production  of  any  other  food  for  man. 
There  is  no  reason,  therefore,  why  the  milk  dairyman  should  hesi- 
tate to  establish  the  machinery,  for  the  most  profitable  production 
of  the  article,  than  the  miller,  or  other  manufacturer  should 
shrink  from  building  a  good  mill,  for  fear  that  at  a  future  time 
he  might  change  his  business.  The  milk  dairies  about  London, 
and  other  large  European  cities,  are  as  permanent  in  their  pur- 
suits, as  any  other  which  minister  to  the  wants  and  necessities 
of  the  population  demanding  their  supplies. 

It  is  hardly  within  the  province  of  this  work  to  go  into  the 
plans  of  building,  necessary  to  carry  out  the  various  details  to 
which  our  suggestions  may  lead.  Indeed,  were  we  to  submit 
plans  or  diagrams  of  barns,  stables,  sheds,  and  feeding  arrange- 
ments, for  stock  cattle,  stall-feeding,  or  milk  dairies,  the  particular 
locality  of  the  various  parties  needing  them  might  require  dif- 
ferent ones;  perhaps  no  one  of  them,  in  all  its  details,  would 
answer  the  purpose  demanded  by  the  immediate  circumstances 
of  the  dairyman,  or  stall-feeder.  Mr.  Stewart's  suggestions  of 


CUTTING   AND    COOKING   FOOD.  363 

the  machinery  for  cooking  cattle  food,  are  sensible,  and  a  part, 
if  not  all  of  his  details,  may  be  safely  adopted.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  Mr.  Birnie's. 

"We  consider  steam,  or  at  least  horse  power,  indispensable  to 
the  economical  prosecution  of  the  work,  where  any  considerable 
number  of  cattle  or  cows  are  kept.  To  the  remarks  of  the  above 
named  gentlemen,  we  will  add,  that  the  machinery  should  be 
placed  in  a  compact  position,  in  a  central  building — of,  at  least, 
two  stories  for  the  storage  of  the  food  and  its  manipulation. 
From  the  main  building,  wing  stables  of  one,  or  two,  stories 
may  stretch  off  on  either,  or  both  sides,  with  double  rowa  of 
stalls,  and  a  six-foot  passage,  for  a  tram  railway,  between 
them — the  heads  of  the  cows  to  the  passage — for  distributing 
the  food.  Over  them,  hay,  or  other  forage  may  be  stored  for 
use,  as  wanted.  Wells,  cisterns,  or  other  water  supplies,  should 
be  made  in  close  proximity,  and  other  conveniences  added,  that 
the  best  economy  of  labor,  and  expenditure  of  forage  may 
demand. 

We  may  as  well  say  here,  as  anywhere,  that  the  best  develop- 
ment of  the  productions  of  our  cattle,  either  in  flesh,  or  dairy, 
require  thought  and  investigation,  as  well  as  moneyed  capital. 
These  pursuits  are  most  mistakenly  considered,  by  many  aspiring 
people  engaged  in  the  more  active,  and  speculative,  yet  uncertain 
branches  of  industry,  to  be  of  a  vulgar  order,  fitted  only  for 
uneducated  minds.  We  deny  the  fact  altogether.  Large  for- 
tunes may  not  be  so  rapidly  accumulated  in  these  pursuits  as  in 
some  others;  nor  are  they  so  readily  lost.  They  are  just  as 
honorable,  and  just  as  respectable  as  any  others;  and  it  is  because 
the  same  amount  of  brain  and  investigation  have  not  been  exer- 
cised in  them,  as  in  some  other  branches  of  business,  that  they 
are  not  so  considered ;  and  when  it  is  demonstrated  that  the 
proper  application  of  knowledge  and  skill,  will  add  to  the  profit 
of  their  productions,  there  can  be  no  good  reason  why  these 


364  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

labors  should  not  be  embraced  by  men  of  mind,  as  well  as  means. 
We  have  shown,  conclusively,  as  we  believe,  that  a  saving  of 
material,  to  the  extent  of  full  one-fourth,  to  one-third,  can  be 
made  in  the  expenditure  of  forage,  by  cutting  and  cooking  cattle 
food,  for  the  production  of  both  flesh,  and  milk ;  and  that  saving, 
added  to  the  ordinary  gains  under  the  common  negligent  system, 
would  result  in  a  handsome  additional  profit.  The  business  is 
certainly  profitable  now,  as  so  negligently  carried  on,  or  it  would 
not  be  pursued.  A  due  reform,  in  an  improved,  over  the  present 
wasteful  system,  in  either  of  these  branches  of  feeding,  would 
add  many  millions  annually  to  our  aggregate  wealth. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

MILK    COWS THEIR    SELECTION. 

WE  have  elsewhere  remarked  on  the  breeding  of  milk  cows; 
but  a  special  chapter  is  necessary  to  fully  enforce  our  ideas  on  so 
important  a  branch  of  this  treatise.  The  great  mass  of  our 
dairy  cows  are  yet  of  the  common,  or  native  kind — good,  per- 
haps, in  the  main,  but,  in  the  mass  of  them,  capable  of  great 
improvement  in  their  lacteal  qualities.  Could  we,  by  a  dash  of 
the  pen,  at  once  convert  them  all  into  high  grades,  of  one  or 
more  of  the  established  milking  breeds,  it  would  add  a  large  per- 
centage to  the  ordinary  yield  of  milk  now  obtained  from  them, 
and  the  consequent  profit  in  their  use.  But,  that  being  impossi- 
ble, our  only  course  is  to  show  how  we  can  select  the  best,  and 
obtain  from  them  an  average  of  one-fourth,  or  one-third  more 
milk,  butter,  and  cheese,  than  they  now  yield,  and  at  little,  or  no 
more  expense  in  keeping — thus  adding  largely  to  the  productive 
capital  invested  in  them. 

We  now  labor  under  two  important  difficulties  in  using  the 
common  cows  of  our  country.  One  is,  their  average  low  capacity 
for  yielding  milk ;  the  other  is  the  uncertainty  in  their  selection 
for  that  purpose,  when  young,  and  untried.  These  difficulties 
are  radical,  and  cannot  be  remedied  short  of  many  years  of  time 
in  selection  and  breeding,  on  the  part  of  both  cows  and  bulls, 
and  then  with  still  uncertain  results;  while  to  make  sure  of  per- 
manent, certain,  and  unfailing  milkers,  we  have  only  to  resort  to 
breeds  already  long  established,  and  which  are  measurably  within 
our  reach.  We  find  that  in  these  established  milking  breeds,  they 


366  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

have  certain  positive  marks  which  indicate  their  high  milking 
qualities,  with  a  considerable  degree  of  certainty.  This  is  no 
small  advantage  in  their  possession.  It  is  certain  that  we  are 
less  liable  to  be  mistaken  in  their  selection,  than  in  cows  to  which 
no  such  distinctive  marks  attach. 

As  we  have  elsewhere  said,  no  one  breed  is  equally  fitted  for 
all  localities.  Therefore,  the  dairyman,  or  he  who  keeps  but  one 
or  two  family  cows,  should  know  from  observation,  if  not  by 
experience,  the  best  variety  for  his  use,  and  adopt  it.  Yet,  all 
good  milkers  show  certain  indications  of  possessing  that  quality, 
and  we  shall  speak  of  those  indications  only,  leaving  it  to  the 
dairyman  to  make  his  own  proper  selection  of  breeds. 

We  are  in  the  possession  of  a  little  book,  published  in  Edin- 
burgh, Scotland,  in  the  year  1843,  entitled,  "How  to  Choose  a 
Good  Milk  Cow,"  by  a  French  author,  J.  H.  Magne,  Professor 
of  the  Veterinary  School,  Alfort,  with  a  supplement,  containing, 
"Hints  for  Selecting,"  by  John  Haxton.  It  is  so  applicable  to 
our  purpose  that  we  shall  offer  no  apology  for  presenting  extracts 
from  it — although  it  may  partially  repeat  what  we  have  already 
written — as  being  better  than  anything  which  we  can  offer  wholly 
from  our  own  pen : 

GENERAL    MARKS.       BREED. 

"  We  find  good  milkers  in  all  breeds,  but  they  are  rare  in 
some,  and  very  common  in  others.  It  could  not  be  otherwise. 
Milking  properties,  depending  on  the  conditions  which  determine 
the  formation  of  breeds,  are  due  partly  to  the  climate,  the  soil, 
the  air,  and  the  plants  of  the  countries  where  the  breeds  have 
originated;  and  must,  therefore,  vary  in  our  different  breeds  of 
horned  cattle,-  with  the  hygienic  conditions  peculiar  to  each 
locality. 

''Milkers,  and  more  especially  animals  intended  for  breeding, 
must  be  selected  among  breeds  celebrated  for  abundance  of  milk. 
Not  that  we  can  hope  to  import  into  our  deoartmcnt,  with  a 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  36-7 

dry  and  warm  climate,  all  the  qualities  of  the  excellent  milking 
breeds  possessed  by  countries  in  which  the  soil  is  fertile,  the  air 
moist,  and  the  sky  often  cloudy ;  but  as  the  influences  of  climate, 
though  very  marked,  take  effect  only  in  the  long  run,  the  prop- 
erties of  the  animals  imported  are  maintained — though  subject, 
doubtless,  to  gradual  deterioration — during  a  period  which  varies 
with  the  precaution  taken  to  preserve  them;  and  for  several  gen- 
erations, the  descendants  of  the  individuals  of  a  good  imported 
breed,  give  more  milk  than  individuals  belonging  to  a  breed 
formed  on  the  spot,  when  hygienic  circumstances  are  not  favor- 
able to  milking  properties. 

"It  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  moreover,  that  under  the  influence 
of  particular  circumstances,  which  it  is  sometimes  impossible  to 
call  into  existence,  animals  manifest  properties  which  we  cannot 
produce  directly.  This  explains  why  it  is  often  more  advanta- 
geous to  import  qualities  possessed  by  foreign  stock,  than  to  try 
to  develop  them  in  native  stock. 


"As  milking  qualities  are,  in  a  great  measure,  dependent  on 
structure  and  temperament,  which  are  more  or  less  hereditary, 
descent  exercises  a  great  influence. 

"In  each  breed,  therefore,  we  should  choose  individuals  belong- 
ing to  the  best  stocks,  and  the  offspring  of  parents  remarkable 
for  their  milking  qualities;  for  it  is  certain  that  good  milk  cows 
produce  others  which  resemble  them. 

"But  it  is,  especially,  when  selecting  stock  for  the  purpose  of 
breeding  milk  cows,  that  particular  care  should  be  taken  to  select 
individuals  belonging  to  good  families.  A  cow  of  a  bad  milking 
family,  or  even  breed,  may  occasionally  be  an  excellent  milker, 
and  more  than  this  is  not  wanted  when  it  is  not  meant  to  breed 
from  her.  The  same  cannot  be  said  when  breeding  is  intended, 
because  there  would  be  little  chance  of  her  transmitting  the  acci- 
dental, or  exceptional  qualities  possessed  by  her;  whereas  the 


368  AMERICAN    CATTLE". 

qualities  forming  the  fixed  and  constant  characters  of  the  stock 
•would,  almost  to  a  certainty,  be  transmitted  to  descendants. 

"These  remarks,  with  regard  to  breed  and  parentage,  apply  to 
the  selection  of  the  bull,  which,  as  experience  demonstrates,  acts 
like  the  cow  in  transmitting  the  milking  qualities  which  distinguish 
the  breed  and  stock. 

DIGESTIVE    ORGANS. 

"These  organs  have  a  powerful  influence  on  the  exercise  of 
all  the  functions,  and  particularly  on  the  secretion  of  the  milky 
glarfds.  Where  the  digestive  organs  are  defective,  good  milk 
cows  are  rarely  met  with. 

"A  good  state  of  the  digestive  organs  is  evinced  by  the  fol- 
lowing particulars : 

"A  belly  of  moderate  size,  with  yielding  sides,  free  from  tight- 
ness :  in  aged  beasts,  the  belly  is  often  large,  though  the  organs 
which  it  contain  are  in  good  condition ; 

"A  large  mouth,  thick  and  strong  lips; 

"A  good  appetite,  easy  and  quick  digestion; 

"Glossy  hair,  supple  skin,  with  a  kind  of  unctuous  feel. 

"Animals  possessing  these  anatomical  and  physiological  prop- 
erties, eat  well,  drink  much,  and  if  they  are  properly  fed,  make 
much  blood,  and  yield  large  quantities  of  milk. 

RESPIRATORY    ORGANS. 

"The  respiratory  organs  complete  the  system  of  nutrition. 
The  object  of  the  lungs  is  to  bring  the  substance  furnished  by 
the  food  into  contact  with  the  air,  and  make  it  capable  of  nourish- 
ing; they  digest  air  as  the  stomach  digests  food.  Hence  a  good 
form,  and  a  healthy  condition  of  the  organs  of  the  chest,  are 
necessary  to  the  production  of  much  milk. 

"Their  ability  to  fulfill  their  functions  is  evinced — when  they 
are  large,  and  lodged  in  a  spacious  cavity ;  in  other  words,  when 
the  chest  is  wide,  deep,  and  prominent — when  the  ribs  are  long, 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  369 

and  strongly  arched  throughout  their  whole  length,  and  more 
especially  at  the  upper  extremity — when  the  withers  are  thick, 
and  the  brisket  rounded  behind  the  arm  and  elbow — when  the 
spine  is  long,  straight,  horizontal,  (not  saddle-backed,)  and  the 
loins  are  wide — when  the  air  is  inhaled  without  any  appearance 
of  hurry,  and  exhaled  from  the  chest  in  great  puffs. 

"The  movements  of  the  flank  are  free,  easy,  and  extensive,  in 
beasts  which  breathe  well. 

"These  properties  of  the  digestive  and  respiratory  organs  indi- 
cate that  digestion  and  respiration,  being  well  performed,  furnish 
an  abundant  and  rich  blood;  all  the  organs  being  in  a  state  of 
activity  favorable  for  the  exercise  of  their  functions.  Animals 
combining  these  properties  in  full  vigor,  are  capable  either  of 
performing  much  work,  or  fattening  rapidly,  or  giving  much 
milk,  according  to  the  predominance  either  of  the  power  of 
motion,  viz.:  the  bones  or  muscles;  or  of  the  nutritive  system, 
viz.:  the  cellular  and  adipose  tissues;  or  of  the  organs  for  pro- 
viding milk,  viz.:  the  glands  giving  milky  secretions,  and  the 
milk  vessels. 

SHAPE. 

"Active  milking  glands  are  seldom  found  united  with  the 
graceful,  rounded  forms,  which  constitute  what  is  vulgarly  called 
beauty  in  quadrupeds.  Most  frequently,  good  milkers  have  sharp 
poiats,  and  appear  more  or  less  loose  and  .flabby.  In  regard  to 
bony  structure,  they  may  be  as  well  formed  as  cows  remarkable 
for  their  readiness  to  fatten,  or  ability  to  work ;  b~ut,  being  seldom 
in  plump  condition,  they  seem  lean  and  raw-boned. 

"Hence,  when  a  herd  of  cows  have  all  been  fed  and  kept  in 
the  same  way,  it  would  not  be  proper  to  fix  upon  the  beautiful 
as  the  best  milkers.  In  so  doing,  we  should  be  almost  invariably 
mistaken.  In  the  hind-quarters,  there  is  often  something  defec- 
tive in  regard  to  form :  they  are  largely  developed,  but  the  flesh 
is  not  in  proportion  to  the  bone,  and  the  bony  protuberances 
are  very  visible;  the  haunches  stick  out,  and  the  pelvis  is  wide; 


370  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

the  legs,  standing  far  apart,  leave  a  considerable  space  as  a  recep- 
tacle for  large  milk  vessels.  (See  plate  30.) 

"The  blood  flows  in  great  abundance  to  the  milky  glands,  and 
keeps  them  in  activity  at  the  expense  of  the  other  organs ;  the 
muscles  are  slender,  the  buttocks  and  thighs  small  and  narrow. 

"The  cows  we  recommend  as  milkers,  are  those  whose  chine, 
instead  of  being  all  of  one  piece,  shows,  towards  its  center,  a 
space  occupied  by  a  kind  of  shrivelling,  the  effect  of  the  distance 
between  the  spinous  processes  of  the  vertebrae  :*  the  process  of 
the  last  dorsalf  vertebrae  is  strongly  bent  forward. 

"In  some  cows,  we  have  observed  that  this  distinguished 
mark,  is  owing  to  the  processes  of  the  last  dorsal  vertebrae.  In 
that  case,  the  back  has,  at  its  middle,  instead  of  a  wrinkled  or 
shrivelled  part,  a  depression  which  is  continued  to  the  rump. 

"When  this  mark  exists,  the  chinej  is  often  double  in  its 
posterior  half;  the  ridge  of  the  vertebrae  is  large  and  wide,  and 
seems  forked,  and  a  slight  depression  prevails  along  the  medial 
line  of  the  body,  and  is  more  especially  visible  near  the  rump. 

"This  mark  is  much  looked  for  in  Flanders,  where  great 
importance  is  attached  to  it ;  and  among  the  dairymen  of  Paris, 
as  well  as  the  south  of  France,  where  a  common  saying  is,  that 
a  cow  will  be  productive  of  milk,  especially  when,  towards  the 
middle  of  the  spine  of  the  back,  the  processes  stand"  apart  so  as 
leave  two  spaces  of  two  fingers'  width. 

"If  the  chine  is  double,  the  vertebras  are  thicker,  the  haunches 
more  apart,  and  the  loins  and  rump  of  greater  width;  in  this 
case,  the  hind  quarters  are  more  largely  developed,  the  pelvis 
more  ample,  and,  consequently,  the  organs  lodged  in  the  cavitv, 
and  even  th<}  milk  vessels,  of  larger  dimensions. 

CONSTITUTION. 

"It  is  desirable  that  the  special  marks  which  indicate  a  great 
activity  of  the  milky  glands,  and,  consequently,  a  good  milker, 

*  Joints  of  the  back  bone,    t  Pertaining  to  the  back.    *  The  back  bone. 


SELECTION    OP    MILK    COWS.  371 

should  be  united  with  those  which  imply  a  good  constitution. 
These  are  large  lungs,  a  broad  and  prominent  chest,  a  some- 
what slow  respiration,  an  abdomen  of  moderate  dimensions,  a 
good  appetite,  and  a  great  inclination  to  drink — an  inclination 
stimulated  by  the  abundant  secretion  of  milk. 

"Such  cows  eat  much,  digest  easily,  and  breathe  well:  they 
make  good  blood.  This  fluid  gives  activity  to  the  nervous  sys- 
tem, makes  all  the  organs  lively,  and  furnishes  the  glands  with 
the  materials  of  a  copious  secretion. 

"Cows  possessing  these  properties  last  long,  give  much  milk, 
and,  when  they  become  dry,  soon  fatten. 

"  But  it  often  happens  that  activity  and  vigor  in  the  milky 
glands,  are  united  with  close  ribs,  narrow,  feeble  lungs,  delicate 
digestive  organs,  a  moderate  appetite,  and  frequently  an  ardent 
thirst.  In  that  case,  the  cows  have  a  bad  constitution,  they  can 
give  much  milk,  but  it  is  watery,  and  of  bad  quality,  and  they 
often  die  of  disease  of  the  lungs. 

"These  cows  seldom  have  many  calves,  though  they  show  a 
great  inclination  for  the  bull;  and  they  are  difficult  to  fatten, 
even  when  they  are  in  good  health,  and  not  giving  milk. 

GENERAL    AITKARANCE. 

"In  all  breeds,  the  preference  should  be  given  to  cows  which, 
in  form,  are  the  farthest  removed  from  that  of  bulls;  to  cows 
with  small  bones,  fine  and  slender  limbs,  and  a  tail  which  is  fine 
at  its  base;  a  small  but  longish  head,  narrowing  towards  the 
horns;  the  horns  themselves  of  a  bright  color,  tapering  finely, 
and  glistening;  a  supple  and  soft,  unctuous  skin,  covered,  even 
on  the  forehead,  with  erect,  glossy,  soft  hair,  and  provided,  near 
the  natural  passages,  with  a  short,  fine,  and  silky  down;  a  small 
neck,  and  shoulders  apparently  long,  because  slender,  especially 
near  the  head ;  small  eyelids,  well  divided,  but  not  much  wrinkled ; 
prominent  eye,  and  a  gentle,  feminine  look. 


372  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"With  these  marks  of  a  feminine  description,  cows  should 
unite  a  sanguine-lymphatic  temperament,  and  especially  a  mild 
disposition.  Good  milkers  allow  themselves  to  be  easily  milked; 
often,  while  ruminating,  they  look  with  a  pleased  eye,  easily  recog- 
nized, at  the  person  who  milks  them ;  they  like  to  be  caressed, 
and  caress  in  return. 

COLOR. 

"We  do  not  mention  color  as  a  sign  of  milking  qualities,  for 
we  find  good  milkers  among  black  Dutch  cows,  and  red  Flemish 
cows,  as  well  as  among  white  cows,  and  the  wheat-colored  cows 
of  Bresse.  Color  .may  be  of  great  value,  but  it  is  chiefly  as 
indicating  the  origin  of  the  animal.  The  Flemings  and  Nor- 
mans are  very  careful  in  preserving  the  colors  of  their  horned 
cattle,  but  it  is  only  because  a  red  color,  serving  to  characterize 
animals  of  Flemish,  and  a  brindled  color  those  of  the  Norman 
breed,  facilitate  the  sale. 

THE  HYGIENIC  CONDITIONS  TO  WHICH  COWS  HAVE  BEEN  SUB- 
JECTED, THEIR  AGE,  AND  THE  NUMBER  OF  CALVES  THEY 
HAVE  HAD. 

"Cows  which  have  been  calved  in  a  mild  and  somewhat  moist 
climate,  and  which  have  received  due  care,  and  abundance  of  good 
moist  food,  are  generally  good  milkers. 

"  As  happens  in  the  case  of  all  organs,  the  milky  glands  are 
developed  by  the  exercise  of  their  functions,  and  hence  cows 
never  give  so  much  milk  after  their  first  and  second,  as  after 
their  subsequent  calvings,  especially  when  they  have  been  made 
to  calve  young,  before  the  development  of  their  organs.  It  is 
after  they  have  reared  several  calves,  and  been  treated  with 
regularity  for  a  long  time,  that  they  give  most  milk. 

"Here,  however,  we  may  take  the  opportunity  of  advising 
those  who  wish  to  have  excellent  cows,  not  to  select  animals 
five  or  six  years  old,  exposed  at  fairs.  Cows  at  that  age  are 
seldom  sold,  if  free  from  fault. 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  373 

"  We  have  observed,  in  all  fairs  and  large  markets,  that  there 
are  very  few  good  cows  among  those  which  have  had  three  or 
four  calves;  the  good  are  confined  to  the  young  or  aged. 

"Artificial  nursing  has  numerous  advantages,  in  several  re- 
spects, but  some  persons  think  that  it  is  not  favorable  to  the 
secretion  of  the  milky  glands;  they  believe  that  cows  which 
have  suckled  their  calves,  and  whose  glands  have  been  long 
stimulated  by  the  mouth  of  one  or  several  sucklings,  have 
always  much  more  milk  than  those  whose  teats  have  only  been 
in  contact  with  the  hands  of  a  milker. 

"It  is  conceivable  that  the  gentle  heat,  the  moisture  of  the 
lips,  the  agitation  produced  in  the  glands,  and  the  powerful  suc- 
tion of  the  calves,  may  have  much  more  effect  in  stimulating  the 
milky  glands  than  a  hand,  sometimes  brutal,  and  almost  always 
defective  in  intelligence.  It  does  not  seem,  however,  that  this 
influence  is  so  great  as  might  be  supposed,  for  there  are  many 
countries  where  they  get  on  very  well  without  allowing  calves 
to  suckle ;  indeed,  artificial  suckling  is  very  much  on  the  increase. 

DISEASES    BY    WHICH    COWS    HAVE    BEEN    AFFECTED. 

"  The  influence  of  disease,  which  may  be  easily  comprehended, 
is  sometimes  very  great,  and  lasts  during  life.  Affections  which 
make  great  changes  on  the  principal  organs — the  lungs,  the 
stomach,  the  intestines,  and  the  womb,  and  those  which  derange 
the  functions  of  digestion  and  respiration — lessen  the  secretion 
of  milk,  and  often  render  the  liquid  watery  and  bad. 

"Local  diseases — those  which  cause  acute  pain — those  which 
have  their  seat  in  the  extremities,  or  in  the  mouth,  and  hamper 
the  animal,  either  in  walking  among  the  grass,  or  in  taking  food, 
diminish  the  secretion  of  milk,  even  when  they  do  not  affect  the 
exercise  of  the  principal  functions  of  life. 

".But  among  local  diseases,  affections  of  the  milky  glands  have 
the  greatest  influence  in  regard  to  milk.  They  attack  sometimes 


374  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

a  part,  and  sometimes  the  whole  of  the  udder.  Thus  cows, 
which,  after  their  first  calf,  give  milk  equally  by  four  teats,  often 
after  a  disease  of  the  udder,  give  it  only  by  three,  two,  and  occa- 
sionally by  no  more  than  one. 

"It  is  not  always  easy  to  discover  diseases  of  the  milky  glands, 
when  they  have  become  chronic,  and  the  organs  have  ceased  to 
be  painful.  Most  commonly,  however,  the  diseased  part  is  harder, 
or  more  flabby,  or  more  bulky,  or  somewhat  shrivelled;  some- 
times, too,  it  is  painful  on  pressure.  The  teat  corresponding  to 
the  diseased  gland,  may  be  hardened  or  shrivelled ;  it  is  blind  if 
the  disease  is  of  very  long  standing. 

"Cows  which  have  the  udder  unequal,  covered  with  lumps, 
and  not  of  the  same  consistency  and  suppleness  throughout,  must 
be  classed  with  those  having  diseased  glands. 

LOCAL  MARKS.   UDDER,  INCLUDING  MILKY  GLANDS  AND  TEATS. 

"This  organ  is  formed  principally  by  the  glands  which  secrete 
the  milk,  and  called  milky  glands.  These,  four  in  number,  two 
on  each  side,  are  sometimes  designated  by  the  name  of  quarters, 
each  constituting  nearly  a  fourth  part  of  the  udder. 

"The  udder  is  composed,  moreover,  of  skin,  cellular  tissue, 
fat,  lymphatic  ganglions,  vessels,  &c. 

"In  almost  all  cows,  the  abundance  of  milk  is  proportioned  to 
the  size  of  the  mamelles.  The  marks  indicating  that  these 
glands  are  constituted  so  as  to  produce  much  milk,  are  as  fol- 
lows: 

"  A  very  large  development  of  the  hind-quarter,  a  wide  and 
strong  lumbar  region,  a  long  rump,  haunches  and  hind  legs  wide 
apart,  a  large  space  for  lodging  the  udder,  milky  glands  well 
developed,  and  causing  the  udder  to  be  of  considerable  size. 
(See  plate  29.) 

"We  may  here  observe  that  it  is  necessary  to  pay  attention 
to  the  nature  of  the  udder;  its  size  may  depend  on  the  quantity 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  375* 

of  cellular  tissue,  on  the  thickness  of  the  skin,  the  abundance  of 
fat,  or  the  largeness  of  the  gland.  In  good  cows,  the  gland 
constitutes  a  very  great  part  of  it,  and  accordingly,  after  milk- 
ing, it  shrinks  much,  and  becomes  soft,  flabby,  and  very  wrinkled. 

"A  greasy  udder,  also  called  fleshy,  is  of  uniform  texture,  and 
firm;  it  resists  pressure,  and  scarcely  lessens  on  being  squeezed; 
it  is  almost  as  bulky,  and  has  as  much  consistency  after  milking, 
as  before. 

"Dealers,  to  prove  that  the  udder  is  not  fleshy,  draw  back  the 
skiu  which  covers  it;  when  it  stretches  much,  they  consider  it  a 
good  sign,  and  call  the  attention  of  buyers  to  it.  In  fact,  it  is 
conceived  that  skin  which  has  been  habitually  distended  by  great 
quantities  of  milk,  should  be  looser,  and  more  capable  of  stretch- 
ing, than  that  which  has  not  undergone  the  same  alternations  of 
distension  and  relaxation.  (There  are  "jockeys"  in  the  cow 
trade  as  well  as  in  horses. — L.  F.  A.) 

"Another  object  of  the  dealers,  in  thus  stretching  the  udder, 
is  to  show  that  the  cows  are  of  a  good  kind,  that  they  have  a 
fine,  soft,  and  supple  skin.  We  must  observe,  however,  that  in 
all  cows  the  skin  of  the  udder  has  these  properties;  in  different 
degrees,  it  is  true,  but  still  in  degrees,  the  difference  of  which 
few  buyers  are  able  to  estimate.  It  is  on  the  ribs  that  the  skin 
ought  to  be  examined,  for  that  is  the  region  where  the  differ 
ences,  presented  by  the  different  breeds  of  cattle,  are  most  per- 
ceptible. 

"Some  persons  attach  importance  to  the  form  of  the  udder. 
We  know  some  who  look  for  an  attached  udder;  that  is,  an 
udder,  the  glands  of  which  extend  forward,  and  seem  glued  to 
the  belly. 

"But  we  have  seen  very  good  cows  among  those  in  which  the 
ndder  is  bottle-shaped,  and  hanging  much,  as  well  as  among 
those  in  which  it  is  placed  high.  The  size  and  nature  are  the 
points  which  it  is  of  importance  to  take  into  consideration. 


376  AMERICAN*    CATTLE. 

"The  udder  should  be  large  and  not  fleshy.  If  so,  we  may 
rest  assured  that  the  milky  reservoirs  are  spacious,  and  that  the 
glands,  consequently,  furnish  much  milk. 

"The  teats  are  of  less  importance  than  the  glands.  In  the 
cow  there  are  five  or  six,  of  which  one  or  two  behind  are  very 
small,  and  seldom  give  milk. 

"The  four  in  front,  the  only  ones  necessary  to  be  taken  into 
account,  are  nearly  equal.  They  become  large  or  small,  accord- 
ing to  the  time  during  which  the  cows  are  milked  or  sucked ; 
and  this  explains  why  they  are  large  in  cows  which  give  much 
milk,  because  such  cows  must  be  milked  often,  and  for  a  long 
period.  Indeed,  it  is  only  in  this  way  that  their  size  indicates 
the  quantity  of  milk. 

"The  two  hinder  teats  usually  furnish  more  milk  than  the  two 
in  front,  because  the  two  hinder  glands,  or,  as  they  are  called, 
posterior  quarters,  are  almost  always  the  largest  in  size. 

"The  teats  should  be  pliant,  not  blind,  covered  with  a  soft 
skin,  and  free  from  indurations,  such  as  those  produced  by  shrivel- 
ling. The  warts,  which  are  very  frequently  observed,  are  usually 
without  sensation,  and  cause  no  inconvenience :  it  is  better,  how- 
ever, when  they  are  wanting,  for  they  may  make  milking  painful, 
and,  by  causing  the  cows  to  become  restive,  spill  the  milk,  or 
lessen  its  quantity. 

"The  name  of  uddered,  is  given  to  cows  which,  having  been 
left  long  unmilked,  have  the  udder  hard,  swollen,  and  painful. 
Dealers,  to  give  the  appearance  of  good  milkers,  go  the  length 
of  tying  the  teats.  (A  most  dishonest  way,  which  we  have 
sometimes  seen. — L.  F.  A.)  This  practice  might  have  trouble- 
some consequences.  It  is  sufficient  to  make  it  known.  It  is  a 
sure  sign  that  cows  have  been  left  long  unmilked,  when  the 
udder  is  hard,  and  much  distended,  in  proportion  to  its  size; 
when  the  teats  are  stiff,  wide  apart,  often  painful,  and  allow  milk 
to  escape,  though  they  are  not  touched. 


SELECTION  OF  MILK  COWS.  377 

"The  position  of  the  teats  is  not  of  great  importance,  and  yet 
it  is  desirable  that  they  be  apart  from  each  other,  as  indicating 
that  the  milk  vessels  are  spacious.  This  peculiarity  is  observed 
in  the  best  cows.  (See  plate  30.)  When  the  teats  are  crowded 
together,  the  glands  are  small,  and  the  milk  by  no  means  abun- 
dant. 

"It  is  necessary,  however,  in  determining  the  influence  exer- 
cised, by  the  position  of  the  teats,  to  pay  attention  to  the  form 
of  the  udder.  When  it  is  long,  like  a  bottle,  the  cow  may  be 
good,  though  the  teats  be  close.  The  milk  vessels  are  then 
developed  from  top  to  bottom,  instead  of  from  side  to  side,  and 
between,  before,  and  behind.  (A  hanging,  or  bottle-shaped 
udder,  we  would  never  select,  unless  assured  that  the  cow  was 
an  extraordinary  milker.  They  are  always  in  the  way  of  acci- 
dents, when  the  cow  is  traveling,  besides  unsightly. — L.  F.  A.) 

VEINS. 

"Of  all  marks  for  ascertaining  good  cows,  the  best  are  afforded 
by  the  blood  vessels;  if  the  veins  which  surround  the  udder  are 
large,  winding,  and  varicose,  (dilated  at  intervals,)  they  show  that 
the  glands  receive  much  blood,  and,  consequently,  that  their  func- 
tions are  active,  and  that  the  milk  is  abundant. 

VEINS    OF    THE    STOMACH,  OK    LACTEAL    VEINS. 

"The  veins  on  the  lateral  parts  of  the  belly  are  most  easily 
observed,  and  all  authors  have  fixed  on  them,  as  one  of  the  best 
tests  for  ascertaining  the  activity  of  the  glands. 

"These  veins  issue  from  the  udder,  in  front,  and  at  the  outer 
angle,  where  they  form,  in  very  good  cows,  a  considerable  vari- 
cose swelling.  They  proceed  toward  the  front  part  of  the  body, 
forming  angles,  more  or  less  distinct,  often  divide  towards  their 
anterior  extremity,  and  sink  into  the  body  by  several  openings. 
(See  plate  26.) 

"We  can  make  the  size  of  the  lacteal  veins  visible  to  the  eye 
by  touching  them,  by  compressing  them  in  their  passage,  or,  in 


378  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

fine,  by  pressing  them  at  the  place  where  they  penetrate  into  the 
flesh.  In  the  last  case,  we  sink  the  skin  and  the  finger  into  the 
opening  through  which  the  vein  passes:  the  width  of  this  open- 
ing represents  the  diameter  of  the  vein,  and  then  the  thickness 
of  the  finger,  which  stops  it,  represents  that  of  the  column  of 
blood  whose  place  it  occupies.  It  is  superfluous  to  add  that, 
when  the  veins  are  divided,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  all  the 
openings  by  which  they  pass,  in  order  to  form  a  correct  estimate. 

"Milk  ways,  is  the  name  given  to  the  openings  of  which  we 
have  just  been  speaking.  They  are  traversed  by  the  lacteal 
veins  at  the  moment  when  these  disappear  in  the  body. 

"At  the  times  when  cows  are  not  giving  milk,  the  lacteal 
veins,  little  swollen,  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  milking  quali- 
ties. It  is  then  necessary,  for  determining  these  qualities,  to 
compress  the  vein  at  its  anterior  extremity,  in  order  to  stop  the 
blood,  and  make  the  vein  swell  up.  A  good  method  of  produc- 
ing this  result,  consists  in  thrusting  the  finger  into  the  opening 
by  which  the  vein  penetrates  into  the  body.  This  process  enables 
us,  moreover,  to  determine  the  size  of  the  vein,  for  when  the 
blood  diminishes,  this  opening  contracts  less  rapidly  than  the 
vein. 

VEINS  OF  THE  UDDER,  AND  OF  THE  PERINEUM. 

"The  veins  of  the  udder,  and  the  perimeum,  or  twist,  to  which 
hitherto  sufficient  importance  has  not  been  given,  are  able  to 
furnish  valuable  indications.  They  should,  in  both  cases,  be 
highly  developed,  large  and  varicose;  that  is,  exhibit  inflations 
and  nodosities. 

"The  veins  of  the  udder  have  no  definite  direction.  They 
present  themselves  very  irregularly,  under  the  form  of  zigzag 
lines,  knotted,  and  more  or  less  oblique.  They  are  never  of  very 
large  size,  except  in  cows  which  give  great  quantities  of  milk. 
(See  plate  28.) 

"The  veins  of  the  twist  directed  from  above,  downward,  form- 
ing a  winding  line,  interspersed  with  knots,  resemble  those  of  the 


SELECTION    OF   MILK    COWS.  379 

udder,  in  not  being  visible  either  in  heifers  or  in  beasts  of  mid- 
dling quality.  We  cannot  ascertain  their  presence  in  any  but 
very  good  cows. 

"Of  all  the  marks  of  abundant  milky  secretion,  the  best,  and 
indeed  the  only  infallible  marks,  are  furnished  by  the  veins  of 
the  twist  and  of  the  udder.  But,  although  the  surest,  they  are 
not  absolutely  decisive. 

"To  estimate  them,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into  account  the 
state  of  the  cows  in  respect  of  flesh,  the  thickness  of  the  skin, 
food,  general  activity,  fatigue,  journeys,  heat;  all  the  circum- 
stances, in  short,  which  cause  variations  in  the  general  state  of 
the  circulation,  and  in  the  dilatation  of  the  veins.  It  is  neces- 
sary, moreover,  to  recollect  that  in  both  sexes,  all  the  veins  are 
larger  in  the  old  than  in  the  young;  that  the  veins  which  encir- 
cle the  udder  are  those  which,  if  the  cows  are  in  milk,  vary 
most,  according  to  the  different  periods  of  life;  though  scarcely 
apparent  in  youth,  they  are  of  considerable  size,  when,  after 
several  calvings,  the  operation  of  milking  has  given  the  gland 
its  full  development. 

"This  proportion  between  the  size  of  the  veins  and  the  milk 
secreted,  is  observed  in  all  females  without  exception.  The 
largeness  of  the  veins  and  their  varicose  state,  being  a  conse- 
quence of  the  quantity  of  blood  attracted  by  the  activity  of  the 
milky  glands,  is  not  only  the  sign,  but  alst>  the  measure  of  this 
activity;  the  connection  between  the  two  phenomena  is  such, 
that,  if  the  glands  do  not  give  an  equal  quantity  of  milk,  the 
larger  veins  are  on  the  side  of  the  gland  which  gives  the  larger 
quantity. 

DURATION   AND    QUALITIES   OF   THE    MILK.       MARKS    FOR    ASCER- 
TAINING   HOW    LONG    MILK    IS    GIVEN. 

"The  length  of  time  during  which  milk  is  given,  corresponds 
with  the  activity  of  the  organs  which  supply  it.  Cows  which 
give  most  milk  a  day,  also  give  it  longest;  and  hence,  if  no 


380 


AMEBICAN    CATTLE. 


special  mark  is  perceived,  we  can  judge  of  the  duration  of  milk, 
by  the  marks  which  determine  its  quantity.  Here  we  are  rarely 
mistaken. 

""We  ought  to  add,  however,  that  we  have  never  observed 
any  cow  very  well  marked  in  regard  to  veins  which  did  not  keep 
her  milk.  We  repeat,  therefore,  that  the  marks  of  an  abundant 
milker,  may  be  considered  as  indicating  a  long  continuance 
of  milk. 

MARKS  FOR  ASCERTAINING  THE  QUALITY  OF  THE  MILK. 

"The  quality  of  the  milk  depends  much  on  the  quality  of  the 
food,  on  the  period  which  has  elapsed  since  calving,  and  on  the 
precise  moment  when  the  milk  has  been  taken;  immediately 
after  calving,  the  milk  is  always  of  bad  quality,  and  it  is  always 
better  the  older  it  is,  or  the  longer  it  is  since  the  cow  calved. 
At  each  milking,  and  as  long  as  milk  is  given,  that  which  is 
drawn  off  at  first,  is  more  watery  than  that  which  is  obtained 
last.  "We  remark  also,  that  the  milk  is  improved  by  remaining 
in  its  reservoirs,  and  that  cows  which  are  milked  twice  a  day, 
give  better  milk  than  those  which  are  milked  thrice  during  the 
same  time. 

"Cows  fed  with  fresh,  watery  food,  give  a  milk  which  is  too 
wheyey  and  too  poor ;  those  kept  on  dry,  hard  food,  give  a  milk 
which  is  not  abundant,  but  of  good  quality ;  the  cream,  however, 
separates  with  difficulty  if  it  is  not  aided  in  its  ascent  by  a  mild 
temperature,  and  by  adding  a  little  lukewarm  water. 

"Cows  whose  food  is  varied,  tolerably  liquid,  and  devoid  of 
bad  smells  and  tastes,  have  a  good  milk;  those  fed  on  articles 
with  a  strong  taste,  on  cabbages,  turnips,  radishes,  and  garlic, 
give  a  milk  which,  in  taste  and  smell,  bespeaks  these  plants. 
Oleaginous  food,  and  oilcake,  also  produce  bad  milk. 

"In  fine,  it  has  been  several  times  observed,  that  even  the 
mineral  poisons  taken  by  cows  and  goats,  in  too  small  quantities 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  381 

to  hurt  them,  reappear  in  their  milk  in  quantity  large  enough  to 
impart  noxious  properties  to  it. 

"All  the  causes  which  make  the  quantity  of  the  milk  to  vary 
— labor,  drinks,  perspiration — also  modify  its  composition,  and 
consequently  its  qualities.  In  general,  cows  which  perspire  little 
and  give  most  milk,  give  it  inferior. 

"Temperament  exerts  a  great  influence  on  the  quality  of  tho 
milk;  for,  of  several  cows,  placed  under  the  same  apparent  con- 
ditions, and  fed  in  the  same  way,  some  give  a  better  milk  than 
others;  but  the  causes  which  determine  these  differences  are 
unknown,  and  we  cannot  give  any  mark  which  ascertains  their 
effects  with  certainty. 

"Still,  according  to  M.  G-uenon,  there  is  a  correspondence 
between  the  composition  of  the  milk,  and  the  state  of  the  skin 
which  covers  the  perinseum,  or  twist ;  a  soft,  unctious  skin,  of  a 
yellow  saffron  color,  parting  with  a  fine,  yellowish  dust,  when  it 
is  rubbed,  and  a  fine,  pliant,  furry  hair,  indicate  a  milk  of  good 
quality,  and  rich  in  butter. 

"We  know  only  one  method  of  ascertaining  the  qualities  of 
milk,  and  that  is  by  examining  it ;  good  milk  is  of  a  very  slightly 
yellowish-white  color,  and  of  considerable  consistency;  its  con- 
sistency may  be  ascertained  by  pouring  it  in  little  drops  on  a 
solid  body.  Bad  milk,  of  a  bluish  and  watery  white,  spreads  in 
thin  sheets  when  it  is  poured  out. 

"Some  persons  have  the  organ  of  taste  in  sufficient  perfection, 
to  determine  the  quality  of  the  milk  by  sipping  it. 

"As  to  the  dust  which  adheres  to  the  perinaeum,  or  twist,  and 
whose  unctious  feel,  fineness,  and  yellow  color,  indicate,  accord- 
ing to  some  authors,  a  buttery  milk  of  good  quality,  we  have 
never  been  able  to  study  it,  though  we  have  often  tried  on  cows 
whose  milking  qualities  we  knew  to  be  very  good. 

"The  nature  of  the  dust  taken  from  the  skin,  and  the  state  of 
cows  in  regard  to  flesh,  may  one  day  furnish  indications  as  to  the 


382  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

quantities  of  butter  contained  in  their  milk,  but   science   still 
requires  to  make  new  observations  on  this  subject. 

SELECTION    OF    STOCK     FOR     THE    PURPOSE    OF    BREEDING    GOOD 
MILK    COWS. 

"It  is  more  difficult  to  select  stock  for  breeding  good  milk  cows, 
than  to  select  good  milkers;  for  the  breeders  must,  like  good 
cows,  possess  well-developed  properties,  and  must,  moreover, 
have  the  faculty  of  transmitting  these  properties  to  their  descen- 
dants. Now,  this  latter  condition  is  not  indicated  by  any  known 
mark;  we  can  only  have  probable  ground  for  believing  that 
animals  possess  it — first,  by  employing  animals  on  trial;  and 
next,  by  a  special  application  of  the  marks  which  have  now  been 
considered. 

"The  fixed  characteristics  of  breed — the  characteristics  which 
have  existed  in  races  for  several  generations,  are  those  which  are 
transmitted  with  most  certainty.  Hence,  as  we  have  said,  in 
speaking  of  breed  and  parentage — follows  the  necessity  of  choos- 
ing milk  cows  in  good  breeds  and  good  families ;  and  this,  as  we 
have  also  said,  applies  particularly  to  breeding  stock.  The  ana- 
tomical arrangements  which  cause  much  milk  to  be  given  by 
cows,  combining  all  the  properties  of  good  milkers — large  hind- 
quarters, wide  rump,  highly-developed  milk  arteries  and  nerves, 
and  large  udder  veins — are  more  surely  hereditary  than  the  excep- 
tional properties  observed  in  some  individuals,  which  milk  well, 
though  they  have  not  the  marks  which  usually  distinguish  good 
milk  cows. 

"  A  cow,  then,  which  has  none  of  the  marks  of  a  good  milker, 
however  excellent  she  may  be,  ought  not  to  be  employed,  with- 
out extreme  caution,  in  raising  stock;  for  it  is  to  be  feared  that 
her  progeny,  male  and  female,  will  not  inherit  the  exceptional 
properties  which  she  possesses.  Even  should  they  resemble 
their  mother,  they  will  always  be  difficult  of  sale,  and  unprofit- 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  383 

able,  from  not  possessing  the  marks  which  are  now  looked  for  iu 
milkers.  For  the  breeder  who  wishes  to  find  buyers,  it  is  not 
sufficient  that  his  stock  possess  good  qualities;  it  is,  moreover, 
necessary,  that  these  qualities  be  manifested  externally  by  the 
recognized  marks. 

"It  must  not  be  thought,  however,  though  it  is  often  said,  that 
nature  is  capricious, 'or  that  chance  presides  over  her  operations, 
because  it  is  sometimes  difficult  for  us  to  explain  her  works  1 
Her  procedure  is  uniform,  and  her  plan  always  skillfully  framed, 
but  her  methods  are  numerous,  and  her  products  diversified. 

"To  explain  the  variations  in  the  hereditary  transmission  of 
milking  qualities,  let  us  not  forget  that  these  qualities  are  not 
observed  in  wild  cows;  that  they  are  produced,  when  man  is 
able,  by  a  particular  discipline,  by  the  act  of  milking,  the  separa- 
tion of  the  sexes,  &c.,  to  make  certain  natural  powers  more 
active  than  others ;  but  that  the  qualities  disappear  as  soon  as 
these  powers,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  peculiarities  of  climate, 
the  properties  of  plants,  the  temperament  of  the  cows,  are  again 
allowed  to  act,  according  to  the  original  plan  of  creation ;  so  that 
the  variations  which  we  consider  as  caprices  of  nature,  are  incon- 
testable proofs  of  the  uniformity  of  her  works. 

"It  is  only  by  examining  animals  carefully,  by  taking  accurate 
notes  of  their  qualities  and  defects,  by  attending  to  the  circum- 
stances in  which  individuals  are  produced,  reared,  and  main- 
tained, that  we  shall  be  able  to  account  for  what  seems  to  us  a 
sport  or  caprice  of  nature.  It  will  then  be  easy  to  tell,  first,  how 
the  same  bull  and  the  same  cow  have  been  able  to  produce  three 
calves  with  different  properties;  and,  second,  to  trace  out  the 
rules  which  we  must  follow,  so  as  to  be  almost  uniformly  suc- 
cessful in  obtaining  stock  of  first-rate  quality. 

"Experience  proves  that  the  qualities  which  are  transmitted 
with  most  certainty,  depend  on  the  most  important  organs  of 
life;  accordingly,  in  the  forms  of  the  viscera  and  the  skeleton, 


384  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

variations  are  very  rare,  not  only  in  breeds  of  the  same  species, 
but  even  in  different  species  of  the  same  genera. 

"  On  the  other  hand,  where  the  transmission  of  properties  is  so 
uncertain  as  to  seem  the  result  of  caprice  in  nature,  these  prop- 
erties are  formed  by  superficial  organs,  by  the  skin,  the  horns,  the 
state  of  the  hair,  &c. 

"But  it  is  in  qualities  which  are  in  some  sort  artificial,  quali- 
ties produced  under  the  influence  of  domestication,  and  often 
more  hurtful  than  useful  to  the  health  of  the  animals,  that  varia- 
tions most  commonly  occur;  these  change,  not  only  with  the 
breed  of  one  species,  but  with  the  different  individuals  of  one 
same  breed,  of  one  same  half  breed,  and  often  of  one  same 
family. 

"Let  us  bear  these  elementary  principles  of  natural  history 
and  physiology  in  mind,  and  we  shall  comprehend  how  cows  and 
bulls,  well  marked  in  regard  to  scutcheons,  have  produced  stock 
which  did  not  resemble  them.  The  influence  of  the  scutcheons 
is  very  feeble  in  the  act  of  reproduction.* 

"In  this  point  of  view,  the  scutcheon  is  almost  nothing  in 
itself.  It  depends  on  the. state  of  the  hair,  on  one  of  the  most 
fleeting  of  peculiarities,  on  that  which  is  least  hereditary  in  ani- 
mals. It  has  no  value,  as  a  mark  of  good  getters  of  stock,  unless 
it  is  supported  by  marks  superior  to  it  from  their  stability — a 
larger  skeleton,  double  loins,  a  wide  rump,  highly-developed 
blood-vessels ;  unless  it  is  united  with  a  spacious  chest,  rounded 
ribs,  large  lungs,  and  a  strong  constitution. 

"The  more  manifest  the  correspondence  between  these  marks; 
in  others  words,  the  more  the  milking  quality  is  connected  with 
the  general  condition  of  the  animal,  the  greater  the  chances  of 
transmission ;  and  when,  with  a  view  to  reproduction,  we  shall 
make  choice  only  of  animals  possessing  the  two-fold  character  of 

*The  allusion  to  "  scutcheons,"  #ill  be  better  understood  in  the  subsequent 
remarks  on  that  particular  point.— L.  F.  A. 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  385 

general  vigor,  and  activity  of  the  mammary  system,  and  place 
the  progeny  under  favorable  circumstances,  the  qualities  will 
rarely  prove  defective." 

The  foregoing  remarks  of  the  French  author,  Mr.  Magne,  are 
both  sensible  and  ingenious,  as  the  results  of  experience  in  one 
long  observant  of  rules,  both  in  breeding  cows,  and  their  economi- 
cal uses. 

For  farther  instruction,  although  at  the  hazard  of  partially 
repeating  Mr.  Magne,  we  give  the  observation  of  Mr.  Haxton, 
on  the  same  subject,  from  a  somewhat  different  stand  point: 

POINTS    INDICATIVE    OF    A    GOOD    MILK    COW. 

"  Among  practical  dairymen,  there  has  long  existed  a  number 
of  rules,  by  which  the  milking  properties  of  a  milk  cow  are 
judged  of;  and  as  these  rules  are  the  results  of  long  experience, 
transmitted  from  one  generation  to  another,  they  contain,  when 
collected  together,  the  sum  of  all  that  information  which  is 
known  by  the  name  of  practical  knowledge.  That  this  knowl- 
edge is  correct,  in  a  general  way,  cannot  be  questioned,  because 
it  is  the  result  of  actual  experiments  repeated,  and  confirmed  not 
only  for  a  long  period  of  time,  but  in  a  great  variety  of  ways, 
and  under  circumstances  so  different,  that  any  errors  must  long 
ere  now  have  been  detected.  Notwithstanding  the  existence  of 
these  established  rules,  of  judging,  by  external  signs,  of  the  quali- 
ties of  an  animal  suitable  for  the  dairy,  there  are  very  great  dif- 
ferences in  the  modes  and  results  of  applying  them  practically. 
Some  men  have  a  natural  turn,  or  peculiar  adroitness,  for  minuto 
and  careful  observation,  which  others  are  devoid  of;  and  conse- 
quently the  former  are  far  more  successful  in  rearing,  selecting, 
or  buying  dairy  stock,  than  the  latter;  and  hence,  too,  we  find 
that  to  these  instinctive  judges  of  stock,  a  glance  or  a  touch  will 
reveal  a  greater  amount  of  information,  than  the  closest  inspec- 
tion of  others.  While  it  is  necessary,  however,  that  there  should 
17 


386  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

be  long  and  habitual  familiarity  with  recognized  data,  in  order  to 
their  being  successfully  applied  in  practice,  they  at  the  same  time 
furnish  a  set  of  rules,  a  knowledge  of  which  is  of  very  great 
advantage,  to  those  who  have  been  prevented  from  acquiring  an 
experimental  acquaintance  with  the  points  to  which  such  rules 
refer,  either  by  youth  or  want  of  opportunity. 

"The  points  to  be  attended  to,  in  judging  of  a  good  milk  cow, 
are,  by  universal  consent,  considered  to  be  shape  and  size  of  the 
animal,  both  as  a  whole,  and  in  detail;  texture  of  the  skin  and 
hair,  development  of  the  lactiferous  parts;  temperament  or  habit 
of  body  and  dispositions;  and  finally,  strength  or  endurance  of 
constitution.  A  maximum  development  of  these  points,  marks 
out  a  first-class  cow  of  the  breed  to  which  she  belongs ;  but  the 
milking  properties  differ  in  endless  variety,  not  merely  as  these 
points  are  prominent,  or  the  reverse,  but  also  in  proportion  to 
the  circumstances  of  climate,  soil,  and  treatment.  The  escutcheon 
test  of  M.  Guenon,  is  a  new  element  in  the  question;  and  when 
fully  established,  and  better  understood,  will  probably  occupy  the 
first  rank  among  the  external  signs,  which  indicate  the  natural 
milking  properties  of  cows;  but  as  yet  it  is  rarely  recognized  in 
Britain ;  and  there  are  few  farmers,  even  in  the  best  dairy  coun- 
ties, that  have  even  heard  of  such  a  test.  How  far  M.  Guenon's 
observations  have  been  borne  out,  by  facts  supplied  by  the 
examination  of  a  great  many  dairy  cows  in  our  own  country, 
both  by  the  writer  and  others,  will  be  discussed  at  the  close  of 
this  section;  meantime,  we  shall  direct  the  reader's  attention  to 
those  points  which  experience  has  proved  to  possess  a  marked 
influence  on  the  milking  properties  of  cows. 

SHAPE. 

"Whatever  may  be  the  breed  to  which  a  cow  belongs,  there 
are  certain  points  of  configuration  which  are  considered  essential, 
as  regards  her  milking  properties.  There  may  be,  and  are  fre- 
quently, great  discrepancies  between  the  one  and  the  other;  but 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  387 

still,  generally  speaking,  the  rule  holds  good  that,  all  things  being 
alike,  the  cow  which  approaches  nearest  to  a  certain  standard, 
will  be  the  best  milker.  The  head  must  be  rather  lengthy, 
especially  from  the  eye  to  the  point  of  the  nose;  the  nose  and 
muzzle  should  be  cleanly  cut,  and  free  from  thick  skin  or  fleshy 
lumps;  the  cheek-bones  thin,  and,  in  like  manner,  devoid  of  thick 
skin  or  flesh  (not  thick  chapped;)  eye  prominent,  of  a  placid  and 
benignant  expression,  with  little  cf  the  white  exposed  to  view. 
If  horned,  the  horns  should  taper  gradually  to  a  point,  and  have 
a  clean  surface,  free  from  rugosities :  the  breed  will  determine  the 
shape  and  set  of  the  horns.  The  neck  should  be  long,  thin,  and 
free  from  loose  skin.  A  good  milk  cow  may  be  deer  or  ewe- 
necked,  but  never  bull-necked.  The  chest  and  breast  should  be 
deep,  rather  than  broad,  and  the  brisket  should  project  forwards 
and  downwards;  and,  whether  large  or  otherwise,  should  be 
round,  well  shaped,  and  without  loose  folds  of  skin  depending 
from  it.  The  girth,  behind  the  shoulders,  moderate,  and  arising 
more  from  depth  than  breadth  of  chest;  shoulders  rather  narrow 
at  top;  back-bone  on  a  line  with  the  shoulder-top;  ribs  arched, 
and  well  home  to  the  haunch-bones,  which  should  be  wide  apart, 
and  form  a  straight  line  across,  neither  depressed  in  the  center, 
at  the  lumbar*  vertebrae,  nor  drooping  at  the  extremities ;  hind- 
quarters lengthy,  and  the  rump,  or  tail-top,  nearly  on  a  line  with 
the  back-bone;  thighs  rather  thin,  but  broad,  well  spread,  and 
giving  plenty  of  room  for  the  udder;  belly  projecting  outwards 
rather  than  downwards,  with  plenty  of  room  for  food ;  the  udder 
should  be  large  in  a  lineal  direction,  that  is,  well  backward  as 
well  as  upward,  between  the  hind  legs  and  forward  on  the  belly ; 
also  broad  in  front,  filling  up  the  space  between  the  lower  flanks, 
but  rather  short  vertically ;  a  deep  hanging  udder,  from  its  swing- 
ing motion,  being  always  the  cause  of  great  fatigue  to  the  animal 
when  walking;  the  teats  should  be  moderately  long,  straight,  and 

*  Near  the  loins.-L.  F.  A. 


388  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

equal  in  thickness  from  the  udder  to  the  point,*  and  also  at  con- 
siderable and  equal  distances  from  each  other :  the  two  front  teats 
especially,  should  be  well  apart,  and  the  direction  of  all  four  should 
be  downward.  When  full  of  milk,  the  udder  should  be  greatly 
enlarged  in  size,  and,  when  newly  emptied,  shrink  in  a  corres- 
ponding degree,  and  the  skin  gather  into  soft  creases.  (To  judge 
accurately  of  a  good  milker,  the  udder  should  be  seen  both  before 
and  after  milking. — L.  F.  A.)  The  mammary  glands,  running 
on  each  side  of  the  belly,  large  throughout  their  whole  course, 
and  swelling  into  large  puffs  at  or  near  their  junction  with  the 
udder;  thigh  veins  also  large  and  easily  felt  by  the  hand.  (See 
plate  26.) 

"Of  all  these  shapes  the  more  important  are  the  long,  finely- 
formed  head;  long,  thin  neck;  rump  nearly  on  a  line  with  the 
back-bone;  broad  quarters,  long  udder,  from  back  to  front,  and 
large  veins  underneath  the  belly,  and  downwards,  from  the  loins 
and  thigh,  to  the  udder.  When  seen  in  front,  the  body  of  a  good 
milk  cow  should  present  the  appearance  of  a  blunted  wedge,  the 
apex  of  which  is  the  breast  and  shoulder.  Seen  from  behind,  she 
should  present  a  square,  well-spread  shape.  Seen  sideways,  she 
should  be  lengthy,  but  not  lanky.  (See  plate  26.) 

SKIN,    HAIR,    AND    COLOR. 

"The  skin  is  ever  a  true  index  of  the  milking  properties  of  a 
cow.  It  should  be  soft  and  flexible  on  every  part  of  the  body, 
especially  on  the  back  ribs,  and  also  on  the  rump  bones,  situated 
on  each  side  of  the  insertion  of  the  tail.  The  latter  is  a  point 
much  prized  by  dairymen;  so  much  that  a  very  successful  farmer 
in  Cheshire,  Mr.  Jabez  Wright,  told  the  writer  that,  in  buying  a 
cow,  if  the  skin  on  the  rump  was  soft  and  easily  lifted  from  the 

*  We  prefer  that  the  teats  be  slightly  tapering  to  the  point,  as  more  delicate  in 
appearance,  and  easier  to  milk. — L.  F.  A. 


SELECTION   OF    MILK    COWS.  389 

bone,  he  never  sought  for  further  signs  of  her  milking  powers. 
Of  course,  while  feeling  this  point,  Mr.  "Wright's  practiced  eye 
would  at  once  take  in,  at  a  glance,  those  other  points  which  con- 
stitute the  general  whole  of  a  good  milker;  but  the  one  referred 
to,  he  considers  indispensable.  The  skin  in  these  parts  will  vary, 
however,  according  to  the  condition  of  the  cow.  If  full  of  flesh, 
the  skin  may  be  loose,  and  yet  the  animal  be  a  poor  milker;  but 
if  in  lean  condition,  with  loose  skin  on  the  rump  bones,  she  will 
milk  well,  and  fatten  quickly  when  dry.  The  skin  on  the  ribs  is 
the  next  in  importance;  and  if  it  corresponds  in  softness  and 
looseness,  with  that  on  the  rump  bones,  another  point  of  excel- 
lence is  established.  These  two  points,  conjoined,  are  correct 
exponents  of  the  internal  constitution,  and  are  always  accom- 
panied with  more  than  an  average  tendency  to  milk  freely,  and 
fatten  rapidly.  The  former  indicates  a  more  than  ordinary  power 
of  producing  milk;  the  latter  a  great  aptitude  to  fatten;  and 
their  conjoined  presence  indicates  the  union  of  both  tendencies. 
The  skin  on  the  udder,  generally  partakes  of  the  quality  of  that 
on  the  rump  and  ribs,  and  will  therefore  be  soft  and  flexible,  in 
proportion  to  their  softness  and  flexibility.  Still  there  is  a  dif- 
ference to  be  observed,  viz.:  that  the  skin  of  the  udder  must  not 
be  thick,  whereas  thickness  on  the  rump  and  ribs  is  quite  con- 
sistent with  the  best  properties,  provided  it  be  loose,  soft,  and 
flexible.  In  fact,  a  thickish,  soft  hide,  generally  indicates  hardi- 
ness of  constitution,  from  its  greater  capability  to  resist  or  modify 
external  influences,  whether  of  climate,  or  cuticular  irritation  from 
the  bites  of  insects. 

"The  hair  is  the  next  point  to  be  studied.  It  should  be 
moderately  long,  closely  set,  and,  above  all,  soft  and  woolly.  As 
the  thick,  soft  skin  is  an  indication  of  hardiness,  much  more  so  is 
this  the  case  when  covered  with  long,  thick,  woolly  hair.  A  bare, 
hard-haired  cow  is  ever  to  be  avoided  by  the  dairyman,  as  well 


390  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

as  the  grazier.     If  even  a  moderate  milker,  yet  she  will  be  a 
great  eater,  and  never  pay  for  her  food. 

"Color  is  immaterial,  and  depends  on  the  breed. 

TEMPERAMENT    AND    CONSTITUTION. 

"Animals,  like  human  beings,  are  differently  developed  in 
their  nervous,  sanguineous,  muscular,  and  lymphatic  constitu- 
tions, and  their  tempers  and  dispositions  vary  accordingly.  Each 
breed  of  cattle  is  characterized  by  peculiarities  of  temper,  activ- 
ity, and  endurance.  The  muscular  temperament  is  disappearing 
before  the  march  of  improvement,  as  animals  of  this  description 
are  neither  good  for  the  grazier  nor  the  dairy,  being  fleahy,  thick- 
skinned,  and  poor  milkers.  Constitution  is  the  result  of  natural 
temperament  and  physical  configuration,  but  each  temperament 
has  its  own  particular  diseases  to  which  it  is  liable.  The  nervous 
temperament  predisposes  to  fevers,  the  sanguine  to  inflamma- 
tions, and  the  lymphatic  to  lung  diseases;  but  as  these  tempera- 
ments are  never  found  distinct,  but  always  combined  together  in 
some  proportion  or  other,  the  peculiar  diseases  to  which  these 
unions  give  rise,  are  as  endless  as  the  constitutions  themselves. 

"Atmospheric  causes,  and  artificial  treatment,  also  impress 
certain  physiological  characteristics  upon  cattle.  Exposure  to 
cold,  when  young,  has  a  tendency  to  develop  those  parts  of  the 
system,  whose  office  it  is  to  protect  the  vital  functions  from  being 
injured  by  this  cause.  When  an  animal  is  early  exposed  to  cold, 
the  hide  thickens,  and  becomes  covered  with  long,  thick  hair. 
It  becomes  inured  to  exposure,  and  is  little  affected  by  atmos- 
pheric changes.  A  long  continuance  of  such  treatment,  as  in 
the  case  of  the  Scotch  Highland  cattle,  from  one  generation  to 
another,  soon  impresses  a  peculiar  habit  of  growth  upon  them; 
and  this,  in  time,  settles  into  a  fixed  and  permanent  temperament, 
or  physiological  character.  Even,  however,  among  individuals 
of  the  same  breed,  exposed  to  the  same  external  influences,  there 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  391 

arc  great  discrepancies  as  regards  individual  constitution.  Some 
are  more  hardy  than  others,  simply  because  certain  causes,  either 
accidentally  or  designedly  induced,  have  given  them  better  diges- 
tive powers,  stronger  lungs,  and  more  vital  energy.  This  supe- 
riority of  constitution,  whatever  may  be  its  cause,  is  generally 
indicated  by  a  large,  round  body,  a  soft,  flexible  skin,  by  no 
means  thin,  which  is  covered  with  a  thick  coat  of  soft,  silky,  or 
woolly  hair.  A  large  paunch  is  usually  the  sign  of  an  animal 
which  can,  and  will,  consume  a  great  quantity  of  fodder  in  the 
shape  of  hay  and  straw;  and  this  we  know,  by  experience,  to 
be  one  of  the  best  indications  of  a  good,  healthy,  hardy,  thriving 
animal,  whether  cow,  horse,  or  sheep.  Strength  of  constitution 
can  be  transmitted,  as  well  as  other  peculiarities;  so  that  a  care- 
ful breeder,  by  always  breeding  from  animals  that  he  knows  to 
be  of  good  constitution,  will  ultimately  succeed  in  strengthening 
and  improving  his  stock." 

Thus  much  from  Mr.  Haxton, — and  it  could  not  be  better 
said, — showing  him  to  be  a  close  observer,  and  understanding 
well  his  subject. 

GUENON'S  THEORY. 

We  now  come  to  the  theory  of  M.  Guenon,  the  ingenious 
French  writer,  before  named.  Before  discussing  him,  we  wish 
to  remark,  that  he  has  reduced  his  theory,  to  what  he  considered, 
a  science,  and  in  its  treatment  has  so  ramified  it  into  degrees, 
and  shades,  as  to  somewhat  confuse  the  ordinary  observer,  who 
does  not  care  to  go  into  minute  researches,  and  seeks  only  to 
become  familiar  with  tne  truth,  if  there  be  any,  of  his  theory. 

His  theory,  or  science,  by  whichever  name  called,  is  simply 
this :  It  is  well  known  that  the  hair,  just  above  the  udder  of  the 
cow,  grows  transversely,  or  upward.  This  growth  of  the  hair 
he  calls  the  escutcheon,  and  asserts  that  the  more  that  upward 
growth  of  the  hair  extends  outward  from  the  udder  and  inner 
parts  of  the  thighs,  and  upward  towards  the  urinary  passage 
from  the  bladder,  the  better  milker  the  cow  is;  and  as  the  hair 


392 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


fails  to  extend  outward,  and  upward,  in  these  directions,  so  much 
the  less  is  she  a  good  milker.  To  illustrate  his  theory,  he  has 
given  twenty-seven  different  plates,  or  diagrams,  running  from 
the  fullest  development  in  its  various  ways  of  growth,  down  to 
as  near  nothing,  in  those  outward  and  upward  directions  as  the 
cow  ever  shows  it — every  one  having  more  or  less  of  that  pecu- 
liar growth  of  hair  on  those  parts. 


Plate  29.    The  greatest  development  of  a  Milk  Escutcheon. 
We  have  paid  some  attention  to  the  theory,  and  the  marks 
as  the  author  has  delineated  them,  but  without  evidence  of  their 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  3'J3 

truth,  to  the  extent  which  he  claims.  In  some  cases  they  have 
proved  true;  in  others  not.  "We  believe  there  is,  really,  some- 
thing in  it,  but  our  examinations  have  been  more  or  less  contra- 
dictory. 

We  give  on  the  opposite  page,  an  illustration  from  one  of  his 
plates,  showing  a  perfect  escutcheon,  developing,  in  the  highest 
degree  the  milk  marks,  by  the  escutcheon,  of  a  largely  producing 
udder  and  its  connections.  It  is  a  rear  portrait  of  the  cow 
(plate  26)  belonging  to  Mr.  Chenery,  as  taken  in  February, 
1867,  although  we  are  not  aware  that  she  possesses  the  escutch- 
eon so  thoroughly  developed  as  is  here  illustrated. 

We  have  not  considered  it  necessary  to  copy  more  of  M.  Gue- 
non's  diagrams,  so  intricately  explained  by  him,  as  they  would 
lead  the  common  inquirer  to  no  satisfactory  results.  To  those 
who  wish  to  go  iuto  a  close  investigation  of  the  matter,  we  must 
refer  them  to  the  treatise  itself. 

As  both  Mr.  Magne,  and  Mr.  Haxton,  have,  with  much  par- 
ticularity, gone  into  the  practical  workings  of  Guenon's  theory, 
and  at  too  great  lengths  to  insert  in  these  pages,  we  give  a  careful 
synopsis  of  the  results  of  their  investigations,  both  in  France  and 
England.  Of  these,  we  first  examine  Mr.  Magne : 

RELATIONS  BETWEEN  THE  SCUTCHEONS  AND  THE  FUNCTIONS 
OF  THE  MILKY  GLANDS. 

"The  relations  existing  between  the  direction  of  the  hair  of 
the  perinaeum,  and  the  activity  of  the  milky  glands,  cannot  be 
disputed.  Large  lower ^tufts  are  marks  of  good  cows,  whereas 
tufts  near  the  vulva  are  observed  on  cows  which  dry  up  shortly 
after  they  are  again  in  calf. 

"But  what  is  the  cause  of  these  relations?  What  connection 
can  there  be  between  the  hair  of  the  perinaeum,  and  the  functions 
of  the  milky  glands? 

"Having  tried  to  answer  this  question  in  the  'Moniteur  Agri- 
cole,'  for  1848,  we  will  only  say  in  this  treatise,  which  is  wholly 


394  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  a  practical  nature,  that  the  direction  of  the  hair  is  subordinate 
to  that  of  the  arteries;  that  when  a  large  plate  of  hair  is  directed 
from  below,  upwards,  on  the  posterior  face  of  the  udder,  and  on 
the  twist,  it  proves  that  the  arteries  which  supply  the  milky  sys- 
tem are  large,  since  they  pass  backwards  beyond  it,  convey  much 
blood,  and  consequently  give  activity  to  its  functions.  Upper 
tufts,  placed  on  the  sides  of  the  vulva,  prove  that  the  arteries  of 
the  generative  organs  are  strongly  developed,  reach  even  to  the 
skin,  and  give  great  activity  to  those  organs.  The  consequence 
is,  that  after  a  cow  is  again  in  calf,  they  draw  off  the  blood  which 
was  flowing  to  the  milky  glands,  lessen,  and  even  stop  the  secre- 
tion of  milk. 

"In  the  bull,  the  arteries,  corresponding  to  the  mammary  arteries 
of  the  cow,  being  intended  only  for  coverings  of  the  testicles,  are 
very  slightly  developed;  and  there,  accordingly,  the  scutcheons  are 
of  small  extent. 

VALUE    OF    THE    MARKS    FURNISHED    BY    THE    SCUTCHEONS. 

"After  this  explanation,  which  accounts  very  well  for  all  that 
has  been  observed,  it  is  easy  to  comprehend  the  value  of  the 
scutcheons.  The  more  the  lower  ones  are  developed,  the  greater 
the  quantity  of  milk;  but  shape  is  of  no  consequence. 

"Still,  whatever  be  the  cause  of  the  relations  existing  between 
the  secretion  of  milk  and  the  scutcheons,  these  marks  cannot 
furnish  data  so  certain  as  some  have  affirmed  them  to  be. 

"In  fact,  the  quantity  of  milk,  and  its  quality,  do  not  depend 
solely  on  the  form  and  size  of  the  scutcheon ;  they  depend  on 
the  food,  the  particular  management,  the  climate,  the  season, 
the  temperament,  the  size  and  energy  of  the  principal  internal 
organs,  the  capacity  of  the  chest,  the  influence  of  the  generative 
system,  &c.  All  these  circumstances  cause  the  quantity  of  milk 
to  vary,  without  making  any  change  on  the  extent  of  the 
scutcheon;  consequently,  it  is  impossible  that  the  same  relation 
can  always  exist,  between  the  scutcheons  and  the  quantities  of 


SELECTION  OF  MILK. COWS.  395 

milk.  "We  often  see  cows  equally  well  shaped,  having  exactly 
the  same  scutcheon,  and  placed  under  the  same  hygienic  con- 
ditions, yet  not  giving  either  equal  quantities,  or -equal  qualities, 
of  milk.  It  could  not  be  otherwise.  Assuming  that  a  given 
tuft  has  the  same  value  at  birth,  it  cannot  be  the  same  m  adult 
age ;  since,  during  life,  an  infinite  number  of  circumstances  occur 
to  diversify  the  activity  of  the  milky  glands,  without  changing 
the  figure  or  size  of  the  tuft. 

"  Is  it  not  sufficient  to  refer  to  the  inequality  of  milk  given  by 
the  same  cows,  according  as  they  have  had  one,  tv/o,  or  three 
calves,  in  order  to  make  it  clear  that  M.  Guenon  has  assigned 
too  much  value  to  the  mark  which  he  has  discovered? 

"It  often  happens  that  two  horses,  having  exactly  the  same 
structure,  and  the  same  external  forms,  have  not  the  same 
energy,  the  same  fitness  for  work.  The  difference  is  owing, 
evidently,  to  the  temperament,  and  the  activity  of  the  principal 
external  organs ;  in  other  words,  to  conditions  which  it  is  oftea 
impossible  to  estimate  by  any  direct  method. 

"Now,  seeing  that  temperament  has  an  influence  on  muscles 
and  bones,  the  action  of  which,  however,  is  partly  mechanical, 
resembling  that  of  a  lever,  and  exerts  this  influence  so  power- 
fully as  to  render  their  movements  unequal,  in  respect  both  of 
power  and  promptness,  can  we  suppose  that  it  has  no  influence 
on  the  entirely  vital,  or,  at  least,  the  entirely  molecular  working 
of  the  mammary  gland? 

"It  might,  therefore,  have  been  argued  a  priori  that  the  mathe- 
matical precision,  assigned  to  a  classification  of  cows,  is  contrary 
to  the  most  general  laws  of  physiology ;  to  propose  a  mark  indi- 
cating that  a  cow  will  give  so  much  milk  daily,  and  for  so  many 
days,  is  to  deceive  ourselves,  or  to  attempt  deceiving  others;  the 
study  of  the  phenomena  of  life,  proves  that  the  action  of  the 
organs  depends,  not  merely  on  their  size  and  their  form,  but  on 
the  general  condition  of  each  individnal. 


396  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"We  are  able  not  only  to  oppose  argument  to  the  assertions 
of  M.  Gueuon;  we  can  also  appeal  to  the  difficulties  hitherto 
experienced  in.  applying  his  classification  to  practice.  M.  Gue- 
non  has  not  yet  formed  a  single  pupil  worthy  of  him.  And  among 
the  thousands  of  persons  who  occupy  themselves  with  his  method, 
is  there  a  single  one  who  has  acquired  sufficient  skill  to  justify 
the  claims  which  the  author  makes  for  it? 

"It  may  be  affirmed  that,  to  form  pupils  as  skillful  as  himself 
in  judging  of  cows,  M.  Guenon  would  not  only  have  to  teach 
them  that  a  certain  figure  for  the  tuft  corresponds  to  a  certain 
number  of  pints  of  milk,  but  he  would  have,  above  all,  to  com- 
municate to  them  his  perspicacity,  his  talent  for  observation,  and 
his  great  experience;  he  would,  in  fine,  have  to  fit  them  for 
estimating,  in  addition  to  the  direction  of  the  hair  of  the  twist, 
the  whole  of  the  marks  usually  employed  in  making  choice  of 
milk  cows. 

"All  the  attempts  made  on  the  Guenon  method,  not  excepting 
those  of  the  author  himself,  prove  the  soundness  of  our  opinion. 
The  most  skillful,  when  called  to  decide  on  the  quantities  of 
cows,  whose  yield  of  milk  was  well  known,  erred  seven  times 
on  eight  cows,  and  fifteen  times  on  twenty-one.  And,  least 
these  errors  may  be  attributed  to  chance,  on  account  of  the 
small  number  of  cows  submitted  for  trial,  we  should  mention 
that  other  estimates  proved  erroneous,  152  times  on  174  cows,* 
and  321  times  on  352,  and  that  the  error  amounted  to  921  pints 
of  milk  on  a  total  of  2,683  pints ;f  in  other  words,  there  was 
error  in  regard  to  almost  all  the  cows;  and  error  amounting  on 
an  average,  on  each,  to  more  than  a  third  of  the  yield.  On 
some  individuals  the  estimates  were  wrong  to  the  extent  of  from 
17>£  to  21,  and  even  from  26  to  28  pints  a  day! 

"  *  Report  to  the  Central  Society  of  Agriculture,  by  M.  Yrart,  in  name  of  a  Com- 
mittee. 

"t Report  to  the  Minister  of  Agriculture,  by  M.  Lefebvre  Sainte  Marie,  in  name 
of  a  Committee. 


SELECTION    OF    MILK    COWS.  397 

"Such  is  the  truth,  as  to  the  perfect  nicety,  claimed  for  the 
scutcheon  system.  This  system  cannot  do  more  than  furnish  an 
approximate  estimate  of  the  quantity  of  milk,  and  that  in  regard 
not  to  allv  but  only  to  the  majority  of  cows. 

"  What,  then,  has  led  so  many  persons  to  put  confidence  in 
M.  Guenon's  discovery?  The  great  talents  and  knowledge  of 
the  author.  The  system  has  obtained  the  credit  of  results  due 
to  the  experience  of  him  who  applied  it. 

"If,  instead  of  employing  M.  Guenon  personally,  to  give  judg- 
ment on  cows,  he  had  been  employed  to  train  pupils,  and  teach 
his  system  as  Daguerre  has  taught  how  to  take  likenesses,  his 
discovery  would  long  ago  have  been  estimated  at  its  true  worth. 
And  the  services  rendered  by  it  would  not  have  been  less  great. 
For  although  the  mark  furnished  by  the  scutcheons,  is  far  from 
having  the  perfect  certainty  which  some  persons,  unacquainted 
with  physiological  science,  have  wished  to  ascribe  to  it,  it  must 
not  be  thought  that  the  mark  is  of  no  use. 

"By  his  discovery,  M.  Guenon  has  rendered  great  service  to 
agriculture;  the  scutcheon  has  the  advantage  of  furnishing  a 
mark  which  can  be  easily  discerned,  and  estimated  even  by  per- 
sons of  no  great  experience  in  the  selection  of  cows — a  mark 
perceptible  on  very  young  animals,  and  on  lulls  as  well  as 
heifers — a  mark,  in  fine,  which,  when  disencumbered  of  the  com- 
plicated system  in  which  it  has  been  wrapped  up,  will,  ere  long, 
be  in  common  use,  and  facilitate  the  increase  of  good  cows,  by 
not  allowing  any  but  those  of  good  promise  to  be  reared. 

"It  has  been  proposed,  as  a  means  of  ascertaining  the  quali- 
ties of  the  milk,  to  have  regard  to  the  fineness  of  the  hair  which 
forms  the  scutcheons,  the  color  of  the  skin,  and  the  dust  which 
falls  from  them  when  they  are  rubbed;  but  experience  has  not 
yet  demonstrated  that  these  marks  have  the  value  which  hao 
been  ascribed  to  them.  M.  Guenon,  in  deciding  on  the  qualities 
of  the  milk  of  three  hundred  and  eleven  cows,  was  wrong  one 
hundred  and  nineteen  times." 


398  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Thus,  we  see,  that  Mr.  Magne  dissents  from  much  of  the  fan- 
ciful science  of  Guenon. 

To  the  opposite,  somewhat,  let  us  hear  Mr.  Haxton.  "He 
had  examined  many  hundreds  of  dairy  cows  in  Britaic,  and  the 
conclusion  arrived  at,  in  regard  to  M.  Guenon's  test  of  judging 
of  the  milking  propertes  of  a  cow  by  the  development  of  the 
escutcheon,  is,  that  in  a  large  majority  of  cases  it  is  borne  out 
by  facts.  In  a  London  dairy,  where  about  four  hundred  cows 
are  kept,  and  nine-tenths  of  them  above  average  milkers,  the 
upward  growth  of  the  hair  on  the  posterior  part  of  the  udder, 
thighs,  and  twist,  was  too  remarkable  to  be  accounted  fully 
accidental  causes." 

In  another  stock  of  forty  cows — a  very  fine  one — the  results 
were  in  favor  of  the  Guenon  theory,  although  some  very  con- 
tradictory cases  were  found,  the  signs  proving  exactlv  the  other 
way,  even  among  the  same  classes,  or  breeds  of  cows. 

In  another  herd,  composed  of  different  breeds,  there  was  little 
or  no  uniformity  in  the  escutcheon  marks,  even  among  the  best 
milkers  of  either  breed.  Some  escutcheons  were  largely  devel- 
oped, others  not — the  latter  milking  equally  well. 

Another  herd,  of  "very  fine  Ayrshires,"  had  all  sorts  of  devel- 
opment in  their  escutcheons,  yet  were  all  good  milkers. 

On  the  whole,  Mr.  Haxton,  in  his  investigations,  decides  in 
favor  of  M.  Guenon's  system,  believing  that  in  a  majority  of 
cases  the  best  milkers  will  show  the  highest  developed  escutch- 
eons, which,  possibly,  may  prove  to  be  the  fact.  Still,  were  we 
to  select  a  good  dairy  cow,  the  escutcheon  would  be  only  one, 
and  about  the  last  mark  we  should  rely  on,  looking  more  to  the 
other,  and  decidedly  certain  indications  enumerated  in  the  previ- 
ous parts  of  this  chapter.  To  fortify  this  remark,  we  have  now 
a  family  cow  of  our  own  breeding,  half  Short-horn  and  half 
Devon  in  blood,  which  we  have  milked  twelve  years.  She  has 
bred  many  calves,  never  missing  a  single  year,  and  frequently 


SELECTION    OF   MILK    COWS. 


399 


giving  milk  up  to  the  time  of  her  next  calving,  and  an  extraor- 
dinary good  milker,  both  in  quantity,  and  quality.  She  has  none 
of  Guenon's  scutcheon  milk  marks  upon  her.  The  hair  on  her 
udder  and  twist  all  grows  downward. 

EXPLANATORY    ILLUSTRATIONS. 

We  now  present  our  readers  with  the  plate  of  a  good  milk 
cow,  drawn  for  special  illustration  by  our  artist.  She  is  not  a 
pure  bred  cow  of  any  breed,  although  a  strong  dash  of  improved 
foreign  blood  will  be  readily  detected  in  her  form.  As  described 
by  Mr.  Haxton,  we  deem  her  a  model  for  the  dairy 


Plate  30.    A  model  Horned  Milk  Cow. 

This  cow  yields  a  great  flow  of  milk,  and  has  only  oeen  dry, 
or  out  of  milk,  three  weeks  in  two  years. 

There  is  still  another  kind  of  cow  to  which  some  people  are 
partial.  She  is  of  a  polled,  or  hornless  variety,  of  which  many 
are  kept  on  Long  Island,  near  the  city  of  New  York,  in  New 


400 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


Jersey,  about  Philadelphia,  and  in  some  other  sections  of  the 
country.  They  appear  to  be  of  no  distinct  breed,  other  than 
in  the  lack  of  horns,  but  are  probably  descendants  of  the  polled 
cows  of  the  counties  of  Suffolk  and  Norfolk,  in  England,  famous 
there  for  their  good  milking  qualities,  and  which,  no  doubt, 
were  brought  to  this  country  at  an  early  day.  We  have  seen 
many  of  them  in  and  about  the  localities  we  have  named,  from 
our  boyhood  down  to  the  present  time,  and  so  far  as  we  could 
learn,  they  have  proved,  as  a  class,  excellent  milkers.  "We  have 
seen  oxen  of  this  variety — honest,  good  workers — but  their  lack 
of  horn  detracted  from  their  popularity  with  those  who  use  ox 
labor.  These  cows  are  of  all  colors,  from  black,  smoky  brown, 
brindle,  red,  in  various  shades,  to  nearly  white.  On  Long  Island, 
we  have  seen  some  of  a  handsome  short-horn  roan,  with  evident 
marks,  otherwise,  of  having  a  strong  dash  of  that  blood. 


Plate  31.    A  model  Polled  Milk  Cow. 

We  have  little  doubt  that  by  selecting  good  milkers  from  these 
hornless  cows,  and  using  a  compact,  moderate  sized  short-horn 


SELECTION    OF   MILK    COWS.  401 

of  a  good  milking  family,  or  a  Dutch,  Ayrshire,  or  Alderney  bull 
upon  them,  a  race  of  valuable  hornless  cows  may  be  bred  by 
those  who  prefer  them  to  a  horned  breed.  To  give  an  idea  of 
them,  we  have  had  a  faithful  portrait,  of  a  good  one,  (on  the 
opposite  page,)  taken  by  our  artist,  which  embodies  the  main 
excellencies  of  her  kind. 

This  cow  was  taken,  when  in  her  highest  flow  of  milk.  The 
plate  shows  her  lean  in  flesh,  and  ragged  in  booe,  but  of  good 
frame,  and  when  dried  off,  and  well  fed,  capable  of  taking  on  a 
round  carcase  of  excellent  flesh.  She  has  the  quiet,  docile 
expression,  and  the  strong  milk  marks  of  a  choice  family  cow, 
and  is  a  capital  specimen,  in  her  meek,  shaggy  appearance,  of 
what  Englishmen  call  "a  good  poor  man's  cow;"  but  a  rich  man, 
might  well  congratulate  himself  in  the  possession  of  one,  so 
abundant  at  the  pail,  and  bounteous  at  the  cheese  vat  or  butter 
churn.  It  is  evident  that,  in  this  specimen,  her  food  all  goes  to 
milk.  Cross  such  a  cow  with  the  right  bull,  and  a  heifer  from 
her  would  be  "a  gem  of  a  cow"  for  either  family,  or  dairy  use. 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    COMMON    MODE    OF    OBTAINING    COWS,    MILKING,    4C. 

WE  cannot  dismiss  the  subject  of  "selecting  a  good  dairy 
cow,"  without  alluding  to  the  common  method  to  which  our 
dairymen  are  now  subjected,  in  obtaining  their  cows,  instead  of 
breeding  them,  as  they  can  much  better,  and  more  economi- 
cally do. 

A  cheese,  butter,  or  milk  dairyman,  is  in  want  of  good  cows. 
He  starts  out,  either  himself,  or  by  an  agent  to  pick  them  up 
through  the  country  where  cows  are  for  sale,  or  goes  to  the 
"drove  yards,"  where  they  are  congregated,  and  tries  his  hand 
at  a  purchase.  He  knows  the  kind  of  cows  he  wants,  and  their 
value,  and  can  tell  a  good  one  when  he  sees  her.  He  finds  a 
herd  of  them,  and  looks  about  until  he  gets  his  eye  on  such  as 
may  possibly  suit  his  purpose.  But  he  knows  nothing  about 
their  breeding,  their  education,  or  mode  of  treatment,  what  good, 
or  what  bad  qualities,  tricks,  faults,  or  vices,  as  well  as  virtues 
they  possess.  "His  eyes  are  his  chap."  After  a  deal  of  chaf- 
fering, higgling,  and  perhaps  jockying  on  the  part  of  the  seller, 
he  bargains  in  the  best  way  he  can,  for  what  he  thinks  may 
answer  his  necessities. 

Getting  them  home,  and  putting  them  to  use,  they  then  come 
to  trial.  One  proves  a  gentle,  fine,  generous  creature,  producing 
an  abundant  flow  of  good  milk,  and  found  serviceable — just 
what  he  wants.  The  next  milks  hard.  The  next  is  troubled 
with  garget,  or  gives  bloody  milk  out  of  a  teat  or  two,  and  so 
much  of  the  yield  is  actually  lost.  A  third  kicks,  taking  an 


COMMON    MODE    OF    OBTAINING    COWS.  403 

extra  hand  to  hold  her  while  milking,  or  having  to  strap  her 
legs  during  the  process.  A  fourth  has  lost  the  use  of  a  teat  or 
two,  and  gives  but  little  out  of  the  others.  Another  is  breachy, 
jumps,  or  throws  down  fences,  and  lets  the  herd  into  mischief. 
Perhaps  half  a  dozen  others  have  faults,  or  vices,  before  he  gets 
through  with  them,  and  so  on.  Possibly  a  third,  or  one-half  of 
the  cows  answer  his  purpose — after  a  fashion — and  there  may 
not  be  more  than  two  or  three  first-rate  ones  out  of  the  whole. 
They  have  been  picked  up  by  drovers,  from  those  who  culled 
out  their  own  dairies,  having  no  really  prime  cows  to  dispose  of, 
and  will  at  no  price  sell  their  best  ones. 

If  a  cow  drover  comes  along  to  sell  his  commodities,  the  result 
is  the  same,  let  him  recommend  them  to  the  dairyman  as  he  may, 
for  ten  to  one  he  knows  nothing  of  the  real  qualities  of  the  cows 
which  he  has  on  sale.  The  result  with  our  dairymen  is,  that  at 
the  end,  or  half  way  to  the  end  of  his  dairy  season,  he  is  obliged 
to  turn  off  a  portion  of  his  herd.  Some  go  to  the  butcher,  if  he 
can  get  flesh  enough  on  their  bones  to  partially  cover  them. 
Others  are  dried  off,  and  turned  out  to  pasture  for  the  next 
winter's  beef.  Some  are  sold  to  another  itinerant  drover  who 
comes  along,  and  buys  them  at  a  cheap  rate,  to  victimize  another 
innocent  purchaser,  and  so  on,  to  the  end  of  the  chapter.  Out  of 
twenty,  the  dairyman  may  perhaps  find  half  a  dozen  which 
answer  his  purpose,  and  prove  really  good  cows,  when  they 
once  get  wonted  to  the  place,  and  feel  at  home — for  your  cow  is 
a  wonderfully  home-feeling  body,  and  it  frequently  takes  some 
weeks,  or  months,  for  her  to  become  reconciled  to  a  new  locality, 
and  yield  her  natural  flow  of  milk. 

"We  have  given  some  thought,  as  well  as  observation  to  this 
matter,  and  think  there  is  a  better  method  for  the  dairyman  to 
supply  himself  with  cows,  and  in  a  cheaper  way,  in  the  long  run, 
with  much  less  labor  and  vexation  of  spirit.  Let  him  breed 
and  raise  his  own  cows,  by  following  the  directions  laid  down  in 


404  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

our  previous  chapters.  He  can  raise  a  heifer  to  two  and  a  half, 
or  three  years  old,  at  an  expense  of  thirty  to  fifty  dollars,  accord- 
ing to  his  locality,  and  she  then  proves  altogether  a  good,  satis- 
factory cow,  for  the  next  ten  or  twelve  years;  or,  if  she  does 
prove  a  failure  for  the  dairy,  she  can  be  readily  fatted,  and  pay 
the  cost  of  her  rearing  in  a  good  carcass  of  beef  at  the  next 
autumn.  But  if  the  directions  be  strictly  followed,  the  chances 
are  scarcely  one  in  ten  that  she  does  not  prove  a  good  one — 
much  better  than  the  average  of  those  he  can  buy,  as  cows 
usually  run. 

We  know  that  the  impression  with  most  of  our  dairymen  has 
been,  that  they  can  buy  cows  cheaper  than  to  raise  them,  and 
thus  turn  all  the  cattle  food  of  their  farms  over  to  their  milk 
cows.  Such,  however,  has  proved  not  to  be  the  fact.  In  process 
of  time,  when  the  division  of  labor  among  our  stock  breeders 
and  raisers  shall  become  so  systematized  that  men  on  the  cheap 
western  lands  shall  go  into  cow  breeding  as  a  business,  and  raise 
choice  dairy  cows  for  market,  it  may  be  that  dairymen  may 
depend  upon  purchasing,  with  some  assurance  that  they  can  do 
so  satisfactorily.  But,  as  things  now  are,  they  cannot,  and  the 
sooner  they  adopt  the  plan  of  breeding  and  rearing  their  own 
cows,  the  sooner  will  they  be  rid  of  the  pestilent  mode  to  which 
they  are  now  subjected,  of  buying  what  they  do  not  want.  We 
are  satisfied  that,  with  less  labor  and  expense,  they  can  be  sup- 
plied, on  their  own  farms,  with  the  very  best  material  with  which 
to  prosecute  their  business  to  advantage,  and  at  infinitely  less  wear 
and  tear  of  patience  than  they  are  now  annually  subjected  to. 

MILKING. 

All  persons  reared  to  farm  labor  should  know  how  to  milk  a 
cow.  So  they  do,  generally,  as  far  as  drawing  the  milk  from 
the  udder  is  concerned.  But  that  is  only  a  part  of  the  process. 
We  have  often  seen  this  important  labor  so  dirtily,  bunglinglv, 
carelessly,  and  cruelly  done,  that  we  have  wished  that  a  milking 


MILKING.  405 

school  could  be  established  to  show  people  how  to  treat  their 
cows,  and  get  the.  most  milk,  and  to  the  best  advantage,  out  of 
them.  As  every  dairyman  ought  to  know  how  a  cow  should  be 
milked,  either  by  ones,  twos,  or  fifties,  we  have  some  sugges- 
tions to  make  on  the  proper  and  best  modes  of  doing  it,  both 
in  the  treatment  of  the  cows,  and  the  conduct  of  their  milkers. 

It  has  been  much  too  common  a  way,  where  several  cows  are 
kept,  in  the  grazing  season,  to  drive  them  into  yards,  more  or 
less  filthy  from  their  droppings,  half  the  time  muddy  under  foot, 
the  cows  hunching  each  other  about,  frequently  without  sheds 
for  shelter  in  bad  weather,  and  doing  up  the  work  in  a  helter- 
skelter  way,  as  time,  chance,  or  opportunity  may  offer.  In  the 
winter  season  they  are  confined  in  filthy  stables,  frequently 
unbedded,  poorly  ventilated,  and  terribly  noisome  with  the  odors 
and  ammonia  from  urine,  and  the  foetid  breath  of  the  cattle 
within  them. 

Happily,  we  believe  a  better  system  is  prevailing,  and  milk- 
ing, among  our  better  farmers  and  housekeepers,  is  usually  done 
in  a  cleanly  way;  but  not  always  to  the  advantage  that  it  might 
be,  in  having  all  the  conveniences  for  doing  it  in  the  best  man- 
ner. "We  object  to  milking  in  open  yards,  where  the  cows  are 
liable  to  interruption  by  each  other,  or  by  storms,  and  often  be- 
coming restive  by  accidents  not  altogether  under  the  control 
of  their  milkers.  After  long  practice  in  the  management  of 
cows  for  dairy  purposes,  and  their  keeping  arranged  into  a 
regular  system,  we  are  satisfied  of  the  decided  advantage  of 
milking  them,  in  all  seasons,  under  shelter,  and  in  the  stalls 
which,  during  the  winter  months,  they  regularly  occupy. 

Thus,  we  say,  in  a  well  regulated  dairy,  cows,  in  every  season, 
should  be  driven  into  their  stables,  or  sheds,  and  secured  in  stalls 
by  ties,  chains,  or  stanchels,  for  milking.  They  are  thus  under 
control,  and  every  animal  is  secure  from  injury  or  annoyance  by 
her  neighbors.  Each  milker  should  be  furnished  with  a  stool 


406  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

for  sitting  on.  A  bucket  of  water  and  a  cloth  should  be  at  hand, 
to  either  wash,  wipe,  or  otherwise  clean  the  udder  and  teats 
before  commencing  the  work,  if  necessary.  The  cows  may 
be  fed  just  before,  or  after  milking,  as  the  season  of  the  year, 
or  the  habit  of  the  dairyman  may  be;  but  the  habit,  which- 
ever way,  should  be  regular,  always.  No  noise,  or  loud  talking 
should  be  indulged  among  the  milkers.  No  scolding,  fretting, 
thumping  with  stools,  or  otherwise;  and  if,  in  refractory  cases, 
some  discipline  of  a  restive  cow  be  needed,  none  other  than  a 
light  switch  should  be  used  for  punishment.  Mild  treatment, 
and  soothing  terms  in  most  cases,  are  more  effectual  than  harsh- 
ness in  making  cows  gentle.  They  should  learn  to  regard  their 
milkers  and  keepers  as  friends,  to  love  their  presence,  and  confide 
in  their  kindness. 

The  milk  should  be  drawn  rapidly,  and  with  both  hands,  in  as 
cleanly  a  manner  as  possible.  Sometimes,  if  the  milker  be  musi- 
cally inclined,  the  cow  is  soothed  and  entertained  by  the  droning 
of  a  low-voiced  song.  We  have  seen  an  unquiet,  and  restive 
one,  stand  quite  still  while  the  milker  hummed  his  tune,  when, 
without  it,  she  would  be  timid  and  uneasy; — not  that  it  is 
necessary  in  usual  cases,  but  we  have  known  such.  One  person 
will  milk  eight  to  twelve,  and  sometimes  more  cows  at  a  time, 
and  the  times  of  milking  should  not  occupy  more  than  an  hour 
each.  There  is  a  great  slight  in  this  work,  and  some  will  milk 
a  dozen  cows  better,  and  in  less  time  than  another  will  six. 
The  cows  should  be  taken  in  regular  turn,  with  the  same 
milkers  to  the  same  cows,  as  nearly  as  possible,  as  they  both 
become  better  used  to  each  other.  The  times  should  be  as 
equally  divided  in  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day  as  possible, 
and  be  the  division  of  time  as  it  may,  it  should  be  regular,  that 
the  udders  be  not  subject  to  undue  distension.  System,  order, 
and  regularity  in  milking,  has  much  to  do  with  equable  flows  of 
milk,  and  cows  habituated  to  certain  times,  yield  their  messes 
more  regularly  in  quantity,  than  when  irregularly  milked. 


MILKING.  407 

In  breaking  young  heifers  to  the  pail,  harsh  treatment  is  sel- 
dom necessary.  If  they  have  been  carefully  handled  in  calf  hood, 
and  as  yearlings,  they  usually  come  quietly  to  the  hand  of  the 
milker.  Scarcely  one  in  a  dozen  is  ever  troublesome  to  break 
in,  or  to  have  difficulty  with  afterwards,  and  seldom  do  they  need 
a  harsh  word  spoken  to  them.  "We  know  this  method  to  be  a 
good  one,  by  practice  in  our  own  dairy,  and  commend  it  with 
confidence.  By  thus  treating  cows,  they  become  orderly  and 
systematic  in  their  habits.  Each  one  goes  into  her  own  stall 
quietly  as  she  enters  the  stable,  without  huddling,  hooking,  or 
quarreling,  and  they  become  orderly  as  a  file  of  soldiers  when 
going  on  duty.  Perhaps  we  have  been  more  fortunate  in  this 
line  than  many  others  who  could  not  have  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  their  cows,  as  our  own  herdsman  has  been  in  his  present 
employment  with  us  sixteen  years.  His  practice  has  uniformly 
been  as  we  have  written. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

VALUE  INVESTED  IN  COWS;  LOW  AVERAGE  OF  PRODUCTION; 
DAIRY  SOILS;  DAIRY  FACTORIES;  DAIRY  WOMEN;  LOVE  OF 
FINE  CATTLE. 

WE  have  now  given  an  exhaustive  and  thorough  discussion  to 
the  subject  of  milk  cows — too  extended  and  tedious,  perhaps,  for 
the  ordinary  reader — but  none  too  minute  for  the  dairyman  who 
embarks  his  capital  for  the  most  profitable  production  in  their 
management,  or  even  for  the  individual  householder  who  keeps 
his  one  or  more  cows  for  family  use. 

We  have  seen  that  many  millions  of  dollars  are  invested  in 
cows  throughout  the  United  States,  and  that  these  investments 
have  been  made  with  a  view  to  pecuniary  rJtofit,  in  the  way  of 
young  stock,  and  milk,  and  butter,  and  cheese,  aside  from  the 
comfort  and  luxury  they  yield  the  household. 

It  is  a  fact  too  palpable  for  dispute,  that  the  average  of  cows 
kept  throughout  the  country,  for  milk  production,  is  a  low  one. 
Various  exceptions  show  what  amount  of  milk  a  really  good 
cow  can  produce,  under  proper  selection,  with  abundant  food  of 
the  right  kind,  and  good  care.  With  such  examples  as  the  latter 
for  a  standard,  at  which,  in  due  time,  we  may  arrive,  if  the  proper 
means  be  taken  to  accomplish  it,  we  can  add  twenty  to  fifty,  or 
even  a  hundred  per  cent,  to  the  production  and  profit  of  our 
cows,  with  little  additional  cost.  We  have  known — we  now 
know — men  who  derive  an  income  from  a  single  cow,  in  the 
sale  of  her  milk,  beyond  the  annual  cost  of  her  keeping,  besides 
supplying  their  own  families  with  milk  and  cream,  and  sometimes 


LOW  AVEBAGE  OF  PRODUCTION.  409 

butter.  The  average  of  our  milk  dairies,  as  they  are  usually 
kept,  is  not  over  five  hundred  gallons  a  year;  of  the  butter 
dairies,  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds;  of  the  cheese  dairies, 
three  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  per  cow.  These  averages  can  be 
increased  full  one  half,  in  the  simple  items  of  selection  of  cows, 
more  suitable  and  abundant  food,  and  increased  care  in  their 
keeping.  The  requirements  to  constitute  a  really  good  dairy, 
may  be  somewhat  more  expensive,  but  much  less  so  in  propor- 
tion to  the  additional  yields  to  be  obtained  from  it,  than  in  the 
loose  and  negligent  way  in  which  they  are  now  managed.  All 
these  improvements  we  have  suggested;  and  why  not  at  once 
adopt  and  act  upon  them?  A  wise  forecast  will  do  so. 

The  dairy  is  already  a  large  and  increasing  interest  in  our 
country.  "Wide  regions  in  the  Northern  States  are  admirably 
adapted  to  it,  and  poorly  adapted  to  any  other  branch  of  agri- 
cultural production.  They  can  grow  neither  grain,  wool,  horses, 
or  beef  cattle  profitably.  Under  a  mixed  system  of  crops  and 
farm  stock,  in  past  days,  the  average  value  of  such  farms  was 
scarcely  twenty  dollars  per  acre.  Under  the  dairy  system,  well 
brought  into  use,  they  are  now  worth  fifty  to  a  hundred  dollars, 
even  with  the  moderate  yields  we  have  mentioned.  The  majority 
of  these  farms  occupy  elevated,  moist  localities,  where  the  neat 
stock  require  six  months  of  stable-feeding,  with  a  winter  climate 
severe  and  inhospitable.  But  they  are  compensated  with  an 
abundance  of  the  sweetest  grasses,  and  the  purest  water — grand 
aliments  of  the  choicest  dairy  production.  They  teem  with 
broad,  rich  landscapes,  pure  air,  a  most  health-sustaining  atmo- 
sphere, giving  stamina  to  a  vigorous,  industrious  people. 

These  superior  dairy  regions,  too,  are  limited  in  extent.  The 
States  of  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  possess  more  exclusive 
dairy  lands  than  any  others  yet  known,  although  other  adjoining 
States  furnish  them  to  a  limited  extent.  There  may  be  other 
lands  at  the  North-west  yet  untried,  as  in  Northen  Michigan, 
18 


410  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"Wisconsin  and  Minnesota,  which  may  prove  equally  good.  "We 
hope  so.  And  these  lands,  being  restricted  in  area,  as  popula- 
tion and  the  foreign  demand  for  dairy  products  increase,  will  be 
constantly  augmenting  in  value.  Great  improvements  have  been 
recently  made  in  manufacturing  cheese  and  butter,  even  to  "con- 
centrated" milk  for  city  use,  and  exportation.  The  establish- 
ment of  cheese  and  butter  factories  has  improved  the  quality  of 
those  articles,  and  cheapened  their  production.  The  tests  of 
science,  and  accuracy  of  method,  have  been  adopted  in  them, 
raising  their  flavor  and  quality  to  the  highest  standard,  both  at 
home  and  abroad. 

Knowing,  thus,  what  has  been  accomplished  in  these  particu- 
lars, we  have  every  incentive  to  a  still  further  improvement  in 
the  material — cows — to  furnish  these  most  satisfactory  results. 
Dairy  factories,  aside  from  improving  the  quality  of  their  pro- 
ducts, and  increasing  their  prices  over  the  old  household  way  of 
making  them,  have  accomplished  a  most  beneficent  and  merciful 
mission,  in  relieving  the  wives  and  daughters  of  our  dairymen  of 
a  routine  of  slavish  and  most  wearing  labor.  The  life  of  a  house- 
hold dairywoman  is  toilsome  in  the  extreme.  Perpetual  watch- 
fulness, anxiety,  and  work  throughout  the  dairy  season,  frequently 
beyond  her  physical  endurance,  has  been  her  destiny — over  the 
cheese  tub,  and  shelf,  the  churn,  and  butter  bowl — to  say 
nothing  of  her  labors  in  the  milking  yard,  over  the  wash  kettle, 
and  scrubbing  brush.  No  relaxation  whatever  is  permitted. 
Necessity  knows  no  law,  nor  mercy  for  those  patient,  over-worked 
solaces  of  the  household.  Even  hired  female  labor  is  impatient 
of  the  task,  and  shirks  it,  except  at  the  highest  wages,  and  for  a 
limited  period. 

"We  trust  that  dairy  factories  may  soon  become  the  rule,  and 
the  household  thus  relieved  of  an  intolerable  drudgery.  In  fac- 
tories, the  strength  and  ingenuity  of  man  is  employed  almost 
solely,  and  the  female  assistance  required  is  so  mitigated  in  its 


DAIRY    FACTORIES.  411 

toil,  as  to  be  easily  and  cheerfully  accomplished.  In  the  spirit 
of  drowsy  Sancho,  who  invoked  blessings  on  the  man  who 
invented  sleep,  we  utter  unbounded  thanks  to  the  benign  brain 
of  him  who  contrived  the  cheese  and  butter  factory  I 

Although  the  chief  cheese  dairy  districts  of  our  country  may 
be  mainly  limited  to  the  soils  and  localities  we  have  described,  as 
being  the  most  available  for  that  article,  butter  is  universally 
made  wherever  cows  are  kept  at  all;  and  it  is  none  the  less 
necessary  that  proper  breeds  be  obtained,  and  selections  for 
butter,  as  well  as  for  sale  milk  dairies,  be  made.  Equally  so, 
should  the  cow  be  selected  for  the  breeding  and  rearing  of  beef 
animals,  and  of  oxen  for  labor.  Every  farmer,  every  owner  of 
a  cow  in  the  land,  should  take  a  pride  and  a  pleasure  in  having 
her  the  best,  most  useful  of  her  kind.  There  is  no  more  comely 
creature  living  than  a  fine,  well  developed  cow  or  heifer,  a  steer 
or  an  ox,  and  the  whole  majesty  of  the  bovine  race  stands  forth 
in  a  well  bred,  stately  bull,  of  an  established  approved  breed. 
No  higher  ornament  to  the  farm,  the  park,  the  paddock,  or  the 
stall,  can  be  found  than  in  them.  Their  presence  is  ever  a 
pleasure  to  those  who  appreciate  their  value,  whether  in  the 
humbler  walks  of  rural  life,  or  enjoying  the  highest  social  or 
public  distinctions. 


Having  discussed  our  cattle  chiefly  from  a  utilitarian  view,  it 
may  not  be  out  of  place  to  touch  them  in  a  different,  and  some- 
what aesthetic  character,  as  connected  with  country  life,  recrea- 
tion, and  those  periods  of  quiet  leisure,  to  which  men  engaged 
in  pursuits  other  than  agricultural,  devote  a  portion  of  their  time. 

The  breeding  and  rearing  of  cattle  is  an  interesting,  a  pleasant 
occupation,  to  all  having  taste  in  that  line,  aside  from  the  profit 
or  convenience  connected  with  it.  It  is  a  taste  to  be  cultivated 
by  all  whose  inclination  leads  them  to  its  indulgence.  It  is  a 
pure,  a  simple  pursuit,  fraught  with  continuous  interest,  hope. 


412  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

and  expectation.  All  over  Great  Britain,  and  in  portions  of  the 
European  Continent,  in  the  extensive  ornamental  parks  of  the 
nobility,  gentry,  and  great  landholders,  the  choicer  breeds  of 
neat  cattle,  and  sheep,  within  the  last  half  century,  have  taken 
the  place  of  comparatively  worthless  deer,  (though  the  latter 
may  be  beautiful  objects  in  landscape  effect,)  and  now  add  largely 
to  the  ornamental,  as  well  as  economical  keeping  of  their  grounds. 
In  many  instances,  these  nobility  and  gentry  have  been  among 
the  most  spirited  and  liberal  promoters  of  improvement  in  the 
various  breeds  of  cattle,  sheep,  and  swine, — everything"  of  the 
animal  kind,  in  fact,  which  commends  itself  to  their  tastes,  and 
adds  to  the  value  of  their  agriculture.  This  taste  has  become 
disseminated  among  the  farmers  and  tenantry  of  the  land,  until 
it  has  become  a  necessity  in  agricultural  progress.  The  system 
of  cattle  culture  has  thus  changed  from  the  oldtime  practice,  and 
is  still  moving  in  a  rapidly  increasing  course  of  improvement. 

It  should  be  so  in  America.  Here,  we  have  broader  and  cheaper 
lands,  and  of  equal,  or  superior  natural  fertility.  In  many  of  our 
States — the  Western  particularly — are  spread  numberless  farms 
in  thousands  of  acres  each,  held  and  occupied  by  energetic,  prac- 
tical men,  whose  almost  sole  occupation  is  breeding,  rearing,  and 
feeding  of  cattle.  They  seem,  in  that  pursuit,  ''to  the  manor 
borri."  It  is  the  business,  the  pleasure  of  their  lives.  In  com- 
pany with  their  proprietors,  we  have  rode  and  ranged  over 
numerous  of  these  grand  estates — on  broad  upland,  and  wide 
river  bottom;  on  the  park -like  oak  openings;  stretches  of  almost 
boundless  prairie;  or  what  were  once  heavily  wooded  lands, 
long  since  cleared  by  the  axe  and  burning  log-heap ;  and  over 
all  these  luxuriant  farms,  speckled  with  herds,  revelling  in  the 
fullness  and  fatness  of  the  land,  the  eye  and  the  heart  that  would 
not  expand  with  the  outpouring  wealth  lying  around  them,  must 
indeed  be  both  shortsighted  and  impoverished. 


LOVE    OF   FINE    CATTLE.  413 

There  is  a  grand,  picturesque  beauty  of  gentle  hill,  and  dale, 
and  smoothly  rolling  landscape,  in  those  broad  territories;  but 
enlivened  with  herds,  and  flocks,  and  comfortable  dwellings,  it 
exhibits  the  very  fullness  of  pastoral  grandeur  and  luxuriance. 
So,  too,  it  is  fast  becoming  in  farther  Western  States,  younger  in 
settlement,  with  an  equally  active  and  energetic  population. 
Their  farmers  are  fast  assuming  the  character  of  thrift  which  the 
generous  soil  encourages,  and  all  are  either  now,  or  soon  to  become 
the  homes  of  herds  almost  countless  in  the  aggregate. 

It  is  different  in  the  Middle  and  Eastern  States,  which  have 
been  longer  settled,  and  the  land  divided  into  smaller  farms  of 
diversified  cultivation,  more  thickly  inhabited,  with  cities  and 
villages,  and  their  outlying  home  lots  and  paddocks — almost 
within  sight  or  sound  of  each  other's  church  bells.  If  the  west- 
ern farmer  prefers  the  bulky  Short-horn,  or  Hereford,  to  graze 
over  his  broad,  rich  acres,  none  the  less  should  the  calculating, 
industrious  tillers  of  lesser  acres,  be  attached  to  their  Devons, 
their  Ayrshires,  or  Alderneys,  or  the  statelier  Holsteins,  and 
Short-horns,  which  are  winning  their  way  among  them. 

We  are  happy  to  say  there  is  a  growing  taste  among  the  more 
intelligent  of  these  farmers,  and  particularly  among  men  of  for- 
tune and  leisure,  for  improved  breeds  of  stock.  We  count  many 
acquaintances  among  commercial  and  business  men  of  all  degrees, 
who  thoroughly  understand  and  appreciate  their  value,  and  the 
profit  of  their  cultivation.  Indeed,  no  successful  business  man, 
of  spirit  or  taste,  who  now  seeks  a  country  home,  whether  for  a 
permanent  abode,  or  a  summer  stay,  thinks  his  place  complete, 
without  some  degrees  of  indulgence  in  this  luxurious  necessity. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  remark,  that  many  of  our  improved  breeds 
and  varieties  of  farm  stock  have  been  introduced  from  abroad 
by  men  distinguished  in  various  positions,  professions,  and  occu- 
pations, who  have  thus  employed  portions  of  their  wealth,  as 
well  as  by  those  whose  pursuits  have  been  strictly  agricultural. 


414  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Their  far-reaching  sagacity  had  discovered  the  value  of  the  better 
breeds  of  domestic  animals,  and  with  ready  purses  they  ventured 
on  what  they  believed  would  be  appreciated  by  the  less  wealthy 
farmer  at  home,  when  once  assured  of  their  superior  qualities. 
It  is  most  gratifying  to  such  endeavors,  to  find  their  liberality  so 
well  considered  by  those  who,  in  the  result,  are  to  be  chiefly 
benefited.  Such  men  are  public  benefactors. 

Thus,  the  improvement  of  the  neat  stock  of  our  country,  is 
attracting  the  attention  of  the  people  at  large,  and  it  only 
needs  the  proper  knowledge  of  their  good  qualities  and  treat- 
ment, to  gain  the  full  advantages  of  their  possession. 

It  is  but  sufficient  that  we  impress  upon  every  country  dweller, 
the  benefits,  as  well  as  necessity  to  their  best  interests,  of  cul- 
tivating and  improving  their  herds  for  all  purposes.  No  country, 
from  the  high  latitudes  of  the  St.  Lawrence,  to  the  tropical  shores 
of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico;  from  the  Atlantic,  to  the  Pacific  coasts, 
embraces  such  a  wealth  of  soil,  and  climate,  in  which  to  produce 
the  finest  neat  cattle  in  their  appropriate  varieties ;  and  to  neg- 
lect so  wide  an  opportunity,  is  to  abuse  one  of  God's  signal  Provi- 
dences for  our  support  and  welfare. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

INTRODUCTORY  TO   MISCELLANEOUS  MATTER.      PREGNANCY,   AND 
WHAT    FOLLOWS.      DISEASES,   TREATMENT,  AND  CURES. 

WE  have  touched  somewhat  on  gestation  and  maternity,  in 
the  chapter  concerning  the  treatment  of  breeding  cows;  but 
further  suggestions  are  necessary. 

A  breeding,  and  milk  cow,  in  all  her  bodily  conditions,  should 
be  gently  and  kindly  treated. 

She  should  never  be  driven  at  a  pace  beyond  a  walk. 

She  should  never  be  jumped  oyer  fences  or  bars,  and  when 
neces'sary  to  pass  them,  they  should  be  let  down  low  for  her  to 
go  through,  or  over  easily,  and  without  effort. 

She  should  not  be  boisterously  shouted  at  in  driving;  and  if, 
where  a  number  are  together,  they  at  any  time  become  crowded, 
ample  time  should  be  given  to  get  out  of  each  other's  way  with- 
out hooking,  or  hunching. 

If  they  meet  with  an  obstacle  in  the  way,  by  other  animals, 
or  objects  occasioning  fear,  or  fright,  let  them  leisurely  survey 
und  avoid  it  by  their  own  impulse,  rather  than  be  goaded  on  to 
what  they  may  think  danger,  although  such  object,  or  obstacle 
may,  in  itself,  be  harmless. 

Never  suffer  the  cow  or  the  herd  to  be  worried  by  dogs,  either 
in  driving,  or  in  the  field  when  grazing. 

Be  gentle  with  them,  always.  Pregnant  cows  are  liable  to 
various  casualties  from  these  or  any  other  kind  of  maltreat- 
ments, which  may  affect  either  their  offspring,  or  dairy  qualities. 


416  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

After  the  cow  has  been  served  by  the  bull,  mark  the  date, 
and  her  heat  having  passed,  turn  her  quietly  into  the  field,  or 
stable,  with  the  other  cows,  provided  the  bull  be  confined  by 
himself,  as  he  should  be.  If  not  impregnated,  her  heat  will 
return  in  about  twenty  days.  If  she  so  return,  repeatedly,  and 
be  in  high  condition  of  flesh,  her  feed  should  be  reduced ;  let  her 
be  regularly  salted,  twice  a  week,  (when  she  was  only  salted  once 
a  week,  or  less,  before,)  whether  she  be  at  pasture,  or  soiled,  or 
in  the  winter  stable.  If  a  healthy  creature,  she  will  not  long 
remain  refractory  to  conception.  If  she  have  a  natural,  or 
chronic  inclination  to  barrenness,  and  a  valuable  animal,  for 
breed,  patience  must  be  indulged  with  her,  and  the  causes  of  her 
difficulty,  if  possible,  ascertained,  and  if  within  the  power  of 
remedies,  corrected.  (Many  farriers  resort  to  bleeding:  we  do 
not  much  believe  in  it.)  Sometimes  a  cow  or  heifer  may  remain 
passive  for  weeks,  after  her  connection  with  the  bull,  and  still  be 
unimpregnated,  when  a  sudden  return  of  her  heat  will  be  seen. 
Such  freaks  are  not  always  to  be  accounted  for,  and  a  return  to 
the  bull  may  be  successful.  Within  three  or  four  months,  if 
she  remain  quiet,  the  signs  of  pregnancy  may  be  ascertained  by 
any  intelligent  herdsman.  The  motions  of  the  foetus  may  be 
felt  by  passing  the  hand  on  the  right  flank;  or  by  putting  the 
ear  close  upon  it,  the  beating  of  the  foetal  heart  may  be  heard. 
The  first  pregnancy  in  young  heifers  may  be  ascertained  by  a 
gradual  growth  of  the  udder,  which  soon  takes  place,  not  to  be 
much  enlarged  till  a  few  weeks  before  parturition. 

AS    MATERNITY    APPROACHES, 

The  udder  of  the  cow,  or  heifer,  should  be  closely  watched,  that 
it  be  not  inflamed,  or  caked,  with  the  rapid  secretions  of  milk 
that  may  now  flow  into  it.  The  progress  of  this  milky  flow  will 
somewhat  depend  on  her  condition,  the  season  of  the  year,  and 
the  succulence  of  her  food.  There  is  less  danger  of  iuflamma- 


PREGNANCY    AND    WHAT    FOLLOWS.  417 

tion  from  cows  which  have  had  calves,  than  of  heifers  with  their 
first  yeaning.  We  have  had  several  instances  in  both,  and  for 
several  days  before  calving,  were  obliged  to  daily  draw  their 
teats  of  some  quarts  of  milk,  as  the  only  way  to  prevent  the 
difficulty.  This  should  always  be  resorted  to,  when  the  milk 
will  flow,  before  other  efforts  are  made. 

Some  people  have  an  idea  that  no  milk  should  be  drawn  from 
the  udder,  until  the  cow  is  delivered  of  her  calf,  as  it  would  be 
injurious  to  both.  That  is  not  so.  ~We  have  repeatedly  done  it, 
much  to  the  relief  of  the  cow,  and  no  injury,  that  we  could  dis- 
cover, to  the  calf.  It  sometimes  happens  that  the  udder  becomes 
swelled,  and  hard,  when  no  milk  can  be  drawn  from  it.  In  such 
cases  it  should  be  washed,  and  anointed,  to  soothe  the  pain,  and 
bring  down  the  soreness  and  swelling.  A  washing  of  salt  and 
water,  weak  soap  suds,  or  bathing  in  water  alone  is  good.  An 
ointment  of  camphor,  mixed  with  cream,  hog's  lard,  or  fresh 
butter,  may  be  used,  well  rubbed  in  by  hand  all  over  the  udder 
and  teats.  These  failing,  a  sack,  or  woolen  cloth — part  of  an 
old  blanket  or  carpet — may  be  made  large  enough  to  enclose  the 
udder  and  forward  along  the  belly,  and  in  rear  up  into  the  twist, 
secured  by  strapping  it  over  her  back.  This  sack  should  then 
be  kept  throughly  saturated  with  mildly  warm  water,  which  may 
quite  relieve  her  difficulty — when  the  washes  and  ointments  fail. 

The  period  which  has  passed  since  receiving  the  bull,  is  not  a 
sure  test  of  the  time  she  may  bring  forth,  as  it  may  be  some- 
what earlier  or  later  than  the  average  of  two  hundred  and 
eighty -four  days,  which  has  been  noted  as  the  common  duration 
of  pregnancy.  Therefore  a  close  observation  is  necessary.  A 
few  days  immediately  preceding  parturition,  if  all  is  right  with 
her,  the  udder  grows  rapidly  with  its  secretions  of  milk,  the 
belly  drops  and  becomes  narrower;  forty-eight  to  twenty-four 
hours  previous  to  the  birth,  the  "calving  bones"  fall,  (every 
cow  keeper  knows  what  this  means,)  and  the  uneasiness  of  the 
is* 


418  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

cow  indicates  that  parturition  may  be  expected  at  any  moment. 
As  before  directed,  she  should  be  within  immediate  reach  by 
night,  or  day,  and  if  a  valuable  animal,  a  night's  watching  of 
her  keeper  may  be  well  repaid  in  the  result.  The  natural  labor 
of  the  cow,  and  the  assistance  which  she  may  require,  if  any, 
will  be  noticed  in  subsequent  pages,  under  their  appropriate 
heads. 

When  the  calf  is  delivered,  let  the  dam  lick  it  as  thoroughly 
as  she  chooses,  as  is  natural  to  her.  It  dries  the  calf  of  its 
slimy  coating,  and  it  is  soon  able  to  rise  and  find  the  teat,  which 
is  its  first  impulse.  If  the  placenta,  or  after-birth  be  immedi- 
ately voided,  it  should  be  removed  at  once,  and  buried,  either  in 
the  manure  heap,  or  under  ground. 

When  the  cow,  or  heifer,  as  may  be,  has  safely  calved,  and 
is  not  quite  gentle,  she  should  be  confined  in  her  stall,  the  calf 
suckled,  (and  assisted  to  do  so  if  necessary,)  and  the  udder 
thoroughly  drawn  to  emptiness.  She  should  be  given  a  pail 
full  (or  even  more,  if  she  be  a  large  animal,)  of  blood-warm 
mash,  composed  of  bran,  or  grain  meal  diluted  in  water  to  a 
drinking  consistency — for  she  has  gone  through  an  exhaust- 
ing process — which  will  tend  much  to  revive  and  strengthen 
her.  This  may  be  once  or  twice  repeated,  for  a  day  or  two,  if 
she  lags  in  her  immediate  recovery.  If  she  does  well,  her  usual 
feed  may  then  be  given,  and  she  can  take  her  place  with  other 
cows,  in  the  regular  dairy,  or  for  such  purpose  as  is  required. 
Of  the  future  care  of  the  calf,  we  have  already  spoken. 

If,  after  some  hours,  a  part  of  the  placenta  be  still  retained  in 
the  womb,  or  vulva,  a  laxative  drink  of  boiled  flax-seed,  or  meal 
gruel,  or  a  dose  of  salts,  may  be  given  her,  which  is  usually 
effective;  but  no  forced,  or  violent  effort,  should  be  made  to 
expel  it,  as  it  is  sometimes  held  by  an  internal  attachment  that 
may  not  be  forcibly  sundered  without  injury  to  the  maternal 
organs.  A  slight  weight  of  one  or  two  pounds — a  little  sand 


PREGNANCY    AND    WHAT    FOLLOWS.  419 

bag — may  be  tied  to  it,  just  above  the  gambril  joint,  to  gradu- 
ally draw  upon,  and  thus  loosen  its  hold,  and  expel  the  noisome 
incumbrance.  It  is  seldom,  however,  when  the  cow  is  in  good 
condition,  that  nature  itself  fails  to  remove  the  placenta. 

It  sometimes  occurs  that  the  udder  of  the  cow  at  parturition 
becomes  caked,  swelled,  and  inflamed,  or  the  teats  be  sore,  or 
chapped,  and  not  caused  by  an  over  secretion  of  milk.  In  such 
cases,  the  applications  before  mentioned  may  be  applied,  which, 
frequently  repeated,  together  with  the  sucking  of  the  calf,  will 
be  effective.  But  no  neglect  of  the  kind  should  be  suffered  to 
prevent  bringing  the  udder  into  its  proper  condition,  as  soon  as 
may  be.  Such  cases  neglected,  or  carelessly  treated,  may  either 
spoil  the  cow  outright,  or  cause  a  portion  of  the  udder  and  teats 
to  be  lost,  and  thus  her  value  materially  lessened.  In  fact,  the 
most  assiduous  attention  of  the  keeper  should  be  given,  in  carry- 
ing the  cow  safely  through  this  critical  period,  and  bringing  her 
to  the  best  condition  of  profit  and  usefulness. 

MARKS    INDICATING    THE    AGES    OF    CATTLE. 

The  horns — when  cattle  have  horns — are  commonly  examined 
by  most  people,  to  judge  of  their  ages.  When  not  exceeding 
seven  or  eight  years,  these  may  give  a  tolerable  indication  of  the 
time  they  have  lived,  by  the  number  of  rings  at  the  root  of  the 
horns.  With  steers,  at  three  years  old,  and  heifers  not  breeding 
until  that  age,  the  first  ring  appears.  Heifers  which  breed  at 
two  years,  commonly  show  the  ring  during  that  season,  after 
breeding;  so  beyond  that  age,  the  latter,  judged  by  that  mark 
alone,  show  a  year  older  than  they  actually  are.  An  additional 
ring  grows  out  every  succeeding  year.  Thus,  the  animal  shows 
one  ring  at  three  years,  two  rings  at  four,  and  so  on;  but  after 
several  rings  are  developed,  as  at  eight,  nine,  or  ten  years,  they 
become  more  or  less  indistinct,  running  into  each  other,  and  no 
accurate  test,  by  this  measure,  is  left.  The  rings  on  the  short, 


420 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


stubbed,  and  rough  horns  of  bulls,  seldom  show  with  any  accu- 
racy at  all.  Aside  from  the  uncertainty  relating  to  the  rings  in 
old  animals,  they  are  easily  rasped,  or  scraped  off  by  designing 
men — a  thing  very  often  done  with  a  view  to  falsify  their  true 
ages — so  that  no  positive  test  of  age  may  be  looked  after  in  that 
feature. 

THE    TEETH    MARKS, 

However,  are  a  sure  indication  of  age  up  to  seven,  eight,  or  even 
ten  years.  We  find  this  whole  subject  of  the  teeth  -so  well  dis- 
cussed in  Youatt,  that  we  offer  no  apology  for  giving  his  gene- 
rally correct  authority  entire: 

"The  mouth  of  the  new-born 
calf  presents  an  uncertain  ap- 
pearance, depending  on  the 
mother  having  exceeded,  or  fal- 
len short  of  the  average  period 
of  utero-gestation.  Sometimes 
there  will  be  no  vestige  of 
Birth.  Second  week.  teeth,  but  generally,  either  two 

central  incisors  will  be  protruding  through  the  gums,  or  they  will 
have  arisen  and  attained  considerable  bulk. 

"At  the  expiration  of  the  third  week  the  animal  will  have 

six  temporary  incisors  or 
front  teeth. 

"At  a  month,  the  full 
number  of  incisors  will 
have  appeared.  These 
are  the  temporary  or  milk 
teeth.  The  enamel  will  be 

Third  week.  Month.  seen  covering  the  whole 

of  the  crown  of  the  tooth,  but  not  entering  into  its  composition 
as  in  the  horse,  and  it  will  be  observed  that  the  edge  is  exceed- 
ingly sharp.  The  only  indication  of  increasing  age,  will  be  the 


THE    TEETH    MARKS. 


421 


wearing  down  of  these  sharp  edges,  and  the  appearance  of  the 
bony  substance  of  the  tooth  beneath.  The  two  corner  teeth 
will  be  scarcely  up  before  the  center  teeth  will  be  a  little  worn. 
At  two  months,  the  edge  of  the  four  central  teeth  will  be 
evidently  worn;  yet  as  the  wearing  is  not  across  the  top  of  the 
tooth,  but  a  little  out  of  the  line  of  its  inner  surface,  the  edge 
will  remain  nearly  or  quite  as  sharp  as  before.  At  three  months 
the  six  central  teeth,  and  at  four  months  the  whole  set  will  be 
worn,  and  the  central  ones  most  of  all;  but  after  the  second  or 
third  month,  the  edge  of  the  tooth  will  begin  to  wear  d»wn,  and 
there  will  be  more  of  a  Hat  surface,  with  a  broad  line  in  the 
center. 

"About  this  time  a  new  change  will  begin,  but  very  slowly, 
to  be  seen.  The  central  teeth  will  not  only  be  worn  down  on 
their  edges,  but  the  whole  of  the  tooth  will  appear  diminished,  a 
kind  of  absorption  will  have  commenced.  There  will  be  a  little, 
but  increasing  space  between  them.  The  face  of  the  tooth  will 

likewise  be  altered,  the 
inner  edge  will  be  worn 
down  more  than  the  outer, 
and  the  mark  will  change 
from  the  appearance  of  a 
broad  line  to  a  triangular 
shape.  The  commence- 

Eight  months.  Eleven  months.        ment  of  this  alteration  of 

form,  and  diminution  of  size,  may  be  traced  to  about  the  fourth 
month,  and  our  cut  gives  a  representation  of  the  two  central 
incisors  at  eight  months.  The  central  teeth  are  now  not  above 
half  the  size  of  the  next  pair,  and  they  are  evidently  lessened. 
"At  eleven  months,  the  process  of  dimunition  will  have 
extended  to  the  four  central  teeth,  in  the  manner  represented 
in  the  cut.  The  vacuities  between  them,  will  now  be  evident 
enough. 


422 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


"The  first  cut  gives  the  mouth  of  a  young  steer  fifteen 
months  old. 

"The  second  cut  pre- 
sents us  with  the  curious 
and  diminutive  appearance 
of  all  the  incisors  in  a  bul- 
lock eighteen  months  old. 
It  would  appear  difficult 
for  him  to  obtain  sufficient 

Fifteen  months.  Eighteen  months.          food     to    support     himself 

in  good  condition.  It  is  somewhat  so,  and  it  may  be  in  a 
great  measure  owing  to  these  changes  in  the  teeth,  and  the 
difficulty  of  grazing,  that  young  beasts  are  subject  to  so  many 
disorders  from  seven  or  eight  months  and  upwards,  and  are  so 
often  out  of  condition.  They  contrive,  however,  to  make  up  for 
this  temporary  disadvantage  .by  diligence  in  feeding;  and,  to 
allude  for  a  moment  to  another  animal,  we  have  known  many, 
not  only  a  broken-mouthed,  but  a  toothless  ewe  thrive  as  well 
as  any  of  the  flock,  for  she  was  grazing  all  the  day,  and  rumi- 
nating all  night. 

"At  this  time,  eighteen  months  old,  the  corner  teeth  will  not 
be  more  than  half  their  natural  size ;  the  center  ones  will  be  yet 
more  diminished ;  and,  as  the  cut  very  faithfully  represents,  the 
vacuities  between  them  will  be  almost  equal  to  the  width  of  the 
teeth.  The  faces  of  the  teeth  also,  such  faces  as  remain,  will  be 
lengthened;  the  triangular  mark  will  diminish,  and  principally  in 
the  central  teeth;  while  another,  more  or  less  deeply  shaded,  will 
begin  to  appear  around  the  original  mark. 

"All  this  while,  the  second  set  of  teeth,  the  permanent  ones, 
have  been  growing  in  their  sockets,  approaching  towards  the 
gums;  but  not  as  is  said  to  be  generally  the  case  with  other 
animals,  and  with  the  human  being  in  particular,  pressing  upon 
the  roots  of  the  milk  teeth,  and  causing  them  to  be  absorbed, 


THE    TEETH    MARKS.  423 

until,  at  length,  losing  all  hold  in  the  socket,  they  fall  out.  The 
process  of  absorption  commences  here  in  the  whole  milk-tooth, 
and  as  much  in  the  crown  or  body  of  it  as  at  its  root. 

"The  process  of  general  diminution  seems  now  for  awhile 
retarded;  it  is  confined  to  the  central  teeth,  and  they  gradually 
waste  away  until  they  are  no  larger  in  the  body  than  crow-quills. 
About  the  expiration  of  the  second  year,  or  a  little  before,  the 
milk  teeth  are  pushed  out,  or  give  way,  and  the  two  central  per- 
manent teeth  appear. 

"This  cut  gives  the  mouth  of  a  two  year  old  beast;   the  two 

permanent  central  incisors 
are  coming  up,  and  the 
other  six  milk  teeth  re- 
main. The  bone  in  front 
of  the  lower  jaw  is  taken 
away,  in  order  that  the 
alveoli,  or  cells  for  the 
teeth,  may  be  exposed. 

Two  years.'™'  Three  years.          The  second  pair  of  incisors 

have  almost  attained  their  proper  size,  but  have  not  assumed 
their  proper  form.  The  third  pair  are  getting  ready,  but  the 
jaw  is  not  yet  sufficiently  widened  for  the  development  of  the 
fourth  pair. 

"The  process  of  absorption  will  still  be  suspended,  with  regard 
to  the  two  outside  pairs  of  milk  teeth,  but  will  be  rapid  with 
regard  to  the  second  pair,  and  a  little  before  the  commencement 
of  the  third  year  they  will  disappear.  The  second  represents  the 
three  year  old  beast,  with  four  permanent  incisors,  and  four  milk 
teeth. 

"Now  the  remaining  milk  teeth  will  diminish  very  fast,  but 
they  show  no  disposition  to  give  way,  and  at  four  years  old 
there  will  be  six  permanent  incisors,  and  often  apparently  no 
milk  teeth,  but  if  the  mouth  i.s  examined,  the  tooth  that  should 


424 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


have  disappeared,  and  the  tooth  that  is  to  remain  until  the  next 
year,  are  huddled  together  and  concealed  behind  the  new  per- 
manent tooth.  They  are  often  a  source  of  annoyance  to  the 
animal;  and  the  tooth  whose  turn  it  was  to  go  must  be  drawn. 

The  four  year  old  mouth 
then,  as  represented  in  this 
cut,  should  contain  six  per- 
manent incisors  and  two 
milk  teeth. 

"At  the  commencement 
of  the  fifth  year,  the  eight 
Four  years.  Five  years.  permanent  incisors  will   be 

up;  but  the  corner  ones  will  be  small.  This  cut  gives  a  five 
year  old  mouth,  or  perhaps  one  a  month  or  two  after  five  years; 
so  that  the  beast  cannot  be  said  to  be  full-mouthed,  i.e.,  all  the 
incisors  fully  up,  until  it  is  six  years  old.  It  will  be  seen,  how- 
ever, in  this  mouth  of  five  years,  that  the  two  central  pairs  are 
beginning  to  be  worn  down  at  the  edges,  and  that  in  a  flat 
direction,  or  somewhat  inclined  towards  the  inside. 

"At  six  years  old,  the  teeth  are  fully  grown,  but  this  mark 
has  extended  over  the  whole  set,  and  all  the  teeth  are  a  little 
flattened  at  the  top;  while  on  the  two  center  ones  there  begins 
to  be  a  distinct  darker  line  in  the  middle,  bounded  by  a  line  of 
harder  bone.* 

"From  this  time  the  age  can  only  be  guessed  at,  and  not 
decidedly  affirmed;  and  a  great  deal  will  depend  upon  the  man- 
ner in  which  the  animal  is  fed.  The  beast  that  is  most  out,  and 

"  *  We  are  perfectly  aware  against  what  authority  we  are  contending,  when  we 
thus  compute  the  age  of  cattle  by  the  appearance  of  the  teeth.  The  pleasing  author 
of  the  'Illustrations  of  Natural  History,'  gives  the  beast  a  full  mouth  at  three  years 
old,  and  so  does  Buffon,  and  the  editor  of  the  Encyclopedia  Metropolitan:!.  Mr. 
Parkinson  says  that  the  month  is  full  at  four,  although  he  acknowledges  that  the 
teeth  are  not  perfectly  up  until  the  animal  is  six  years  old.  We  have  no  hesitation, 
however,  in  appealing  to  the  experience  of  the  breeders  of  cattle,  for  the  general 
accuracy  of  our  account." 


THE    TEETH    MARKS.  425 

that  is  compelled  most  to  use  liis  incisor  teeth,  will  have  them 
worn  farthest  down.  Perhaps,  as  a  general  rule,  but  admitting 
of  many  an  exception,  it  may  be  said  that  at  seven  years  old, 
this  line  is  becoming  broadest  and  more  irregu- 
lar in  all  of  the  teeth;  and  that  a  second  and 
broader,  and  more  circular  mark,  appears 
within  the  center  of  the  former  one,  and 
more  distinct  in  the  central  or  two  central 
pairs — and  which  at  eight  years,  has  spread 
over  the  six  central  incisors. 
"A  year  afterwards,  however,  a  change  takes  place  which 
cannot  be  mistaken.  The  process  of  absorption  has  again  com- 
menced, and  precisely  where  it  did  when  the  animal  was  four 
months  old,  viz.,  in  the  central  incisors;  but  it  is  slow  in  its 
progress,  and  it  is  never  carried  to  the  extent  to  which  we 
observed  it  in  the  milk  teeth.  It  is,  however,  sufficiently  plain, 
and  the  two  central  teeth  are  evidently  smaller  than  their  neigh- 
bors. A  considerable  change  has  also  taken  place  on  the  surface 
of  the  teeth;  the  two  dark  marks  are  rubbed  into  one  in  all  but 
the  corner  teeth. 

"At  ten,  the  four  central  incisors  are  diminished  in  size,  and 
the  mark  is  becoming  smaller  and  fainter. 
The  cut  represents  the  mouth  at  this  age. 

"At  eleven,  the  six  central  ones  are 
smaller ;  and  at  twelve,  all  of  them  are  very 
considerably  diminished ;  but  not,  as  we  have 
already  observed,  to  the  same  extent  as  in 
the  young  beast.  The  mark  is  now  also  faint, 
Ten  years.  or  nearly  obliterated,  except  in  the  corner 

teeth,  and  the  inside  edge  is  worn  down  to  the  gum. 

"The  beast  is  now  getting  old;  the  teeth  continue  to  diminish, 
and  it  is  not  often  that  the  animal,  after  fourteen  or  sixteen  years 
old,  is  able  to  maintain  his  full  condition.  He  must  then  be  taken 


426  AMERICAN"    CATTLE. 

up  and  partly  fed  in  the  house;  yet  there  are  manv  instances  in 
which  favorite  bulls  have  been  kept  until  they  were  more  than 
twenty  years  old;  and  we  know  a  cow  of  the  same  age  who 
pastures  with  the  rest  of  the  dairy,  and  gives  a  fair  quantity  of 
milk. 

"Some  writers  have  asserted,  that  a  good  cow  will  usually 
continue  good  until  that  age;  but  the  dairyman  would  discover 
his  error,  both  in  the  quantity  and  quality  of  his  milk,  if  he 
received  it  as  a  general  rule,  that  a  good  cow  will  continue  to 
breed  and  give  milk  until  twenty  years  old.  Mr.  Watkinson, 
however,  had  a  cow  that  for  seventeen  years  gave  him  from  ten 
to  twenty  quarts  of  milk  every  day;  was  in  moderate  condition 
when  taken  up;  six  months  in  fattening;  and,  being  then  twenty 
years  old,  was  sold  for  more  than  £18  ($90).  Mr.  John  Holt, 
of  Walton,  in  Lancashire,  had  a  healthy  cow-calf  presented  to 
him,  whose  dam  was  in  her  thirty-second  year,  and  could  not  be 
said  to  have  been  properly  out  of  milk  for  the  preceding  fifteen 
years. 

"This  method,  then,  of  judging  of  the  age  of  cattle  by  the 
teeth,  is  more  satisfactory  than  by  the  horns,  and  little  of  the 
imposition  can  be  practiced  to  which  the  buyer  is  sometimes 
exposed,  whether  the  animal  is  young  or  old.  It  is  true,  that 
from  six  to  nine  we  can  only  guess  at  the  age ;  but  we  can  form 
a  shrewd  guess,  and  can  scarcely  be  out  more  than  a  few  months. 

"With  regard  to  the  horns,  we  are  subject  to  imposition  at  all 
times;  we  are  obliged  to  ask  questions  as  to  the  first  calf;  and, 
when  the  animal  gets  old,  the  supposed  rings  often  present  a 
mass  of  confusion,  of  which  the  best  judges  can  make  nothing. 

"The  grinders  will  rarely  be  examined  to  ascertain  the  age  of 
a  beast.  They  are  too  difficult  to  be  got  at;  and  the  same 
dependence  cannot  be  placed  upon  them.  The  calf  is  generally 
born  with  two  molar  teeth,  and  sometimes  with  three  in  each 
jaw,  above  and  below.  The  fourth  appears  about  the  expira- 


THE    TEETH    MARKS.  427 

tion  of  the  eighth  month,  and  the  fifth  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
about  which  time  the  first  molar  is  shed.  The  second  is  dis- 
placed at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  and  so  with  the  rest,  at 
intervals  of  a  year;  but  the  sixth  molar,  which  is  from  the 
beginning  a  permanent  tooth,  does  not  appear  until  the  sixth 
year." 

DISEASES,   TREATMENT,   AND    CURES. 

Having  passed  through  the  various  topics  of  breed,  and  man- 
agement, we  cannot  well  conclude  our  work  without  treating 
somewhat  of  diseases,  and  their  remedies.  Cattle  Farriery  is  a 
profession  of  itself,  and  when  diseases  take  a  distinct  and  malig- 
nant type,  few  men,  except  experts  in  ascertaining  their  character 
and  applying  their  remedies,  should  undertake  their  treatment, 
wherever  it  be  possible  to  command  their  services.  In  America 
we  have  few  professed  cattle  farriers — almost  every  farmer 
being,  more  or  less,  his  own  physician  in  that  line,  so  far  as  local 
diseases,  and  the  popular  remedies  for  them,  are  concerned,  or 
usually  sought. 

As  to  these  remedies,  but  little  is  scientifically  understood 
among  the  mass  of  our  farmers.  Father  teaches  what  he  knows 
to  son,  or  neighbor  imparts  his  knowledge  to  neighbor,  and  so 
the  thing  goes,  partly  by  observation,  some  by  tradition,  and  a 
good  deal  by  guess  work.  We  need  schools  of  cattle  farriery, 
where  the  subject  of  anatomy,  and  diseases,  are  taught  scientifi- 
cally, as  surgery  and  medicine  are,  when  applied  to  the  human 
system.  Yet,  under  proper  treatment  when  in  health,  our  neat 
stock  are  liable  to  so  few  diseases  that  a  profession  of  the  kind, 
we  fear,  would  prove  but  a  scanty  occupation. 

We  have  consulted  several  medical  works  on  cattle  diseases, 
and,  like  those  works  on  human  disorders,  they  differ  much ;  in 
many  things  they  are  contradictory,  and  perhaps,  in  due  justice 
to  the  subject,  we  should  dismiss  it  by  a  reference  to  such  authori- 
ties as  Youatt,  Dadd,  and  others,  who  have  written  and  pub- 


428  AMERICAN    CATTI.K. 

lished  treatises,  and  are  acknowledged  as  competent  authorities. 
Such  a  course,  however,  would  hardly  discharge  the  duty 
expected  of  a  work  of  the  character  we  have  assumed,  and  we 
shall,  in  consequence,  treat  somewhat  of  disorders  and  diseases 
as  they  are  most  likely  to  occur  in  the  farmer's  own  herds,  insu- 
lated as  he  usually  is  from  the  rounds  of  professional  practice. 

We  may  safely  assert,  that  in  a  large  portion  of  the  country, 
our  neat  stock  are  far  less  prone  to  diseases,  plagues,  and  malig- 
nant disorders,  than  the  cattle  of  any  part  of  Europe,  although 
our  climates,  from  north  to  south,  are  subject  to  greater  extremi- 
ties of  heat  and  cold,  than  the  European  continent.  Yet,  we  do 
have  diseases  of  many  characters  and  tendencies,  sometimes  diffi- 
cult to  understand,  but  most  of  them  have  proved  manageable 
with  proper  forethought  and  fair  treatment.  On  the  whole,  our 
American  cattle,  may,  in  general,  be  called  healthy,  and  liable  to 
comparatively  few  diseases. 

It  is  an  old  and  true  adage,  that  "an  ounce  of  prevention  is 
better  than  a  pound  of  cure."  So  then,  he  who  properly  cares 
for  his  stock  from  their  birth  onward,  will  be  visited  with  few 
disorders  in  his  herd,  and  these,  with  due  precaution,  and  timely 
looking  after,  in  most  cases,  may  be  safely  controlled.  Good 
shelter,  proper  food,  pure  water,  and  timely  care,  will,  in  most 
instances,  keep  herds  in  good  health — extraordinaries  excepted. 
We  have  known  farmers,  with  large  herds,  who  scarce  ever  had 
a  diseased  animal.  We  have  known  others  equally  well  situa- 
ted, so  far  as  the  opportunity  of  keeping  and  caring  for  them  were 
concerned,  who  were  always  afflicted  with  sickly  cattle.  They 
died,  annually,  with  murrain,  or  some  other  malady,  solely  arising 
from  poverty,  exposure,  bad  food,  or  neglect ;  and  the  wonder  of 
this  latter  class  continually  was — "what  ailed  their  cattle?"  If 
they  will  read,  and  ponder  over  our  previous  pages,  and  act  on  the 
suggestions  they  contain,  they  will  soon  find  a  reform  in  the  con- 
duct of  their  herds;  but  if  they  still  go  on  in  their  old  negligent 


DISEASES    AND    TREATMENT.  429 

ways,  they  must  suffer;  and  on  their  own  heads  must  fall  the 
penalty. 

The  habits  of  all  domestic  animals,  are  exceedingly  simple. 
Their  natural  tastes  are  so;  their  necessary  food  is  so;  and  their 
anatomical  and  internal  organs  are  such  as  to  dispose  of  their 
food,  and  drink,  to  the  due  nourishment  of  their  systems,  without 
much,  if  any  artificial  help.  So,  then,  that  their  food  be  regular, 
and  sufficient,  nature  may  safely  be  left  to  its  own  course,  in  the 
great  majority  of  cases,  with  a  safe  result.  No  farmer  should 
ever  bring  a  creature  on  to  his  place  having  a  contagious  disease, 
or  permit  one  to  remain  there,  either  in  the  company,  or  within 
the  sympathies  of  other  cattle.  "We  once  bought  a  fine  blooded 
cow,  diseased  with  a  sort  of  scrofula,  or  consumption — some 
might  call  it  an  incipient  murrain — and  we  lost,  not  only  her, 
but  at  least  half  a  dozen  other  cows  and  heifers,  by  the  conta- 
gion, before  we  got  rid  of  it.  That  experiment  taught  us  a  les- 
son. We  never  since,  bought  a  diseased  animal,  if  we  knew  it. 
Better  knock  the  thing  in  the  head  at  once,  than  to  expose  the 
other  stock  on  the  farm  to  contagion  of  any  sort.  Accidents 
have  sometimes  occurred,  as  under  almost  all  circumstances  they 
will  occur,  and  not  always  to  be  provided  against;  and  so  will, 
sometime,  diseases,  as  milk  fever,  and  other  ailments,  incident  to 
their  condition,  which  must  be  promptly  looked  after;  but  with 
due  precaution,  they  seldom  occur,  under  proper  management  of 
the  herd.  We  do  not  say  that  all  such  diseases  or  ailments  can 
be  cured,  for  with  the  best  and  ablest  treatment,  they  sometimes 
prove  fatal ;  yet,  with  due  care  they  may,  in  a  majority  of  cases, 
be  relieved. 

We  may  be  excused  for  one  remark.  There  exists,  in  almost 
every  neighborhood  where  cattle  abound,  some  quack,  or  pre- 
tender, in  cattle  disorders — ignorant  in  almost  every  thing  else, 
yet  professing  to  be  great  in  that  department.  He  assumes  a  sort 
o£  intuitive  knowledge  in  those  matters,  and  looks  profoundly 
wise,  on  every  case  submitted  to  his  inspection,  and  affects  great 


430  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

secrecy  in  the  material  of  his  remedies,  which  he  is  loth  to  impart 
to  others.  He  may  castrate  a  calf,  a  sheep,  or  a  pig,  with  some 
cleverness,  perhaps,  and  possibly  help  a  cow  to  calve  in  a  tough 
case,  when  sheer  muscular  strength  is  mainly  required,  and  give 
her  a  simplo  drink,  if  needed;  but  as  to  anything  like  scientific 
skill  or  knowledge,  he  is  as  ignorant  as  a  medicine  man  of  the 
Cheyenne  Indians.  Such  practitioners  are  frequently  resorted  to 
in  plain  cases,  and  sometimes  with  tolerable  success ;  but  in  cases 
of  inflammatory,  or  acute  disorders,  they  are  to  be  avoided. 
They  know  nothing  of  them,  and  should  never  be  employed.  A 
sensible,  observing  herdsman,  who  studies  symptoms  and  effects, 
can  far  better  be  trusted  with  their  treatment,  and  possible  cure, 
when  a  competent  farrier  is  not  within  reach.  But  aside  from 
diseases,  there  are  some 

HABITS    AND    TRICKS    OF    CATTLE 

That  need  looking  after,  as  well  as  to  be  discussed  ;  and  before 
we  touch  the  former,  it  may  be  well  to  notice  a  few  of  them. 

KICKING    COWS. 

It  is  sometimes  the  case  that  cows,  from  some  cause  or  other, 
acquire  a  habit  of  kicking.  Some  would  seem  to  be  natural 
kickers,  from  their  propensity  to  do  so  from  their  first  coming  in. 
If  such  be  the  fact,  and  they  persist  in  it,  the  better  way  is,  if 
they  are  not  extraordinary  good  ones,  to  turn  them  off  for  fat- 
tening into  beef.  But  if  valuable  for  the  dairy,  they  can  be 
easily  managed.  Our  own  process  has  been  to  take  the  iron /cr- 
eeps, used  for  holding  cattle  by  the  nostrils,  and  tying  them  by  a 
rope  or  strap  to  a  beam  overhead,  and  drawing  up  their  noses  at 
an  elevation,  and  there  securing  them,  while  they  are  milked. 
If  that  is  not  effective,  a  leather  strap,  with  a  loop  just  back  of 
the  buckle  end,  through  which  is  put  the  other  end,  is  the  best 
instrument  for  the  purpose.  Put  this  around  one  leg  just  above 
the  hock  joint,  run  the  smaller  end  through  the  loop,  that  it  may 
not  slip  down ;  then  put  it  around  the  other  leg,  and  pass  it  back 


TRICKS    OF    CATTLE.  431 

through  the  buckle  so  as  to  confine  her  legs  close  together.  So 
secured,  she  cannot  well  kick,  as  the  strap  holds  them  fast  one 
to  the  other,  and  the  cow  is  easily  milked.  Or,  lacking  a  strap, 
a  rope  passed  around  one  leg  and  crossed,  then  lashed  around  the 
other,  and  brought  back  with  a  turn  or  two  around  the  cross 
between  the  legs,  and  tied,  will  answer  the  purpose.  She  soon 
becomes  accustomed  to  it,  and  will  readily  submit  to  the  opera- 
tion. We  have  so  used  valuable  cows  for  years,  with  little 
trouble,  preferring  so  to  do  rather  than  lose  their  services.  Scold- 
ing, fretting,  loud  threatening,  thumping,  and  flagellations,  are 
of  little  use.  The  cow  may  have  a  hot  temper,  as  well  as  her 
milker,  and  resist  all  such  sorts  of  discipline.  The  law  of  kind- 
ness is  usually  much  more  effective. 

A    KICKING    OX 

Is  troublesome,  either  in  the  stable  or  when  at  work.  Yet  we 
have  known  some  of  the  best  workers  which  had  acquired  a 
most  inveterate  habit  of  the  kind,  and  freely  exercised  it  on  even 
the  slightest  occasions.  In  nineteen  cases  out  of  twenty,  the 
habit  was  acquired  by  improper  treatment  of  him  by  his  keeper. 
"When  steers  are  kindly  treated  at  breaking,  and  in  their  subse- 
quent work,  there  is  little  danger  of  their  contracting  such  a  vice 
at  all.  Kind  and  gentle  treatment,  with  a  steady  driver,  is  the 
best  remedy.  The  owner  must  exercise  his  own  judgment 
whether  to  reti'n,  or  discard  him. 

BREACHY    ANIMALS. 

This  habit  is  acquired  in  most  cases  through  the  carelessness 
or  negligence  of  the  person  owning  them.  We  have  known 
some  cattle  that  seemed  to  have  almost  a  natural  propensity  that 
way,  but  in  seldom  instances.  We  have  seen  even  calves  that 
would  jump  with  almost  the  celerity  of  a  deer,  but  in  most  cases, 
low,  and  insecure  fences  first  led  them  to  it.  As  they  grew  up, 
they  learned  to  throw  fences  with  their  horns;  but  such  enclosures 
were  generally  poor  and  insufficient.  We  have  known  others 


432  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

that  would  ingeniously  unhook  a  gate,  or  open  a  door,  even  when 
properly  latched,  or  otherwise  fastened;  but  such  have  been  rare. 
The  only  sure  remedy  for  such  disturbances  is  fattening  and 
slaughter.  It  is  the  best  use  they  can  be  put  to,  unless  of  great 
value  for  breeding,  or  labor,  and  if  so  retained,  secure  confine- 
ment is  the  best  remedy.  "We  dislike  to  see  a  creature  going 
about  in  the  pasture  with  a  board  hung  over  its  face,  or  with  a 
poke  on,  or  hobbled.  They  are  thus  apt  to  be  set  upon  by  other 
animals,  as  they  are  taken  unawares  without  the  means  of  defence, 
or  escape,  and  thus  frequently  injured.  Besides,  their  example 
is  bad.  "Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners,"- among 
cattle  as  among  men.  Better  to  have  them  out  of  the  way  at 
once,  as  their  examples  may  be  contagious. 

COWS    SUCKING    THEMSELVES. 

This  is  another  bad  trick.  We  dislike  to  see  a  cow  going 
about  the  pastures  with  a  frame-work  around  her  neck.  Better 
serve  her  the  same  as  the  breachy  one,  and  rid  the  herd  of  her 
presence.  "We  never  had  a  creature  of  the  kind,  and  if  we  had, 
would  not  take  the  pains  to  make  the  complicated  machinery  for 
its  protection,  unless  she  were  of  very  choice  blood,  whose  pres- 
ervation was  worth  any  amount  of  pains  to  keep  her  under 
proper  control. 

HOOKING QUARRELING. 

Animals  may  be  prevented  from  much  mischief  by  putting 
balls  of  either  wood,  pewter,  or  brass  (the  latter  are  best,)  on 
the  ends  of  their  horns.  They  may  be  either  riveted  on,  or 
screwed  firmly.  The  manner  of  doing  it  is  too  simple  to  need 
direction. 

There  may  be  other  tricks  and  vices  of  a  trivial  nature,  to 
which  cattle  may  become  addicted,  but  from  a  long  experience 
and  observation  in  that  line,  we  believe  that  under  proper  treat- 
ment, these  tricks  and  vices  will  be  few;  at  least  we  have  seldom 
been  troubled  with  them. 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

DISEASES   PROPEB. 

ON  this  subject  we  borrow  our  authority  chiefly,  and  shall 
pass  on  to  those  most  common  to  our  herds,  as  they  occur  on 
the  farms,  or  among  individual  animals  kept  by  householders  for 
their  own  domestic  uses. 

"We  have  consulted  several  different  authorities,  both  European 
and  American.  In  causes,  and  symptoms,  they  generally  agree, 
but  in  their  cures  they  frequently  differ,  sometimes  radically ; 
and  in  the  latter,  both  Allopathic,  and  Homeopathic  remedies 
are  prescribed.  Either,  or  both  may  be  correct,  or  deficient. 
We  do  not  pronounce  an  opinion  either  way,  for  we  are  not  a 
farrier.  We  leave  the  adoption  of  either  class  of  remedies,  to 
the  judgment  of  him  who  owns  and  cares  for  his  stock. 

The  whole  subject  of  cattle  diseases  cannot  be  discussed  short 
of  a  thorough  treatise,  which  would  occupy  a  number  of  pages 
far  beyond  what  has  already  been  written  in  this  volume,  and 
which,  if  attempted,  would  swell  it  to  inordinate  dimensions. 
To  him  who  wishes  to  examine  the  subject  to  a  great  extent, 
we  can  do  no  better  than  refer  him  to  the  elaborate  pages  of 
Youatt,  already  mentioned,  as  perhaps  the  most  competent  and 
complete  English  authority;  or  to  "Allen's  Diseases  of  Domes- 
tic Animals,"  or  "Dadd's  American  Cattle  Doctor,"  more  com- 
pendious, and  perhaps  equally  good  American  authorities.  We 
do  not  propose  to  quote  much  from  either  of  them. 

We  have  in  our  hands  a  little  English  work,  entitled  "Tho 
Modern  Farrier,"  by  G.  Lowson;  printed  in  London  in  the  year 
19 


434  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

1850,  from  which  our  own  medical  treatment  of  cattle  has  been 
practiced  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  with  success.  It  is,  in  the 
main,  simple,  sensible,  and  unpretending;  and  as  such,  we  are 
content  to  lay  it  before  our  readers,  so  far  as  its  observations 
extend. 

Preliminary  to  the  extracts  from  Mr.  Lowson's  work,  we  give 
a  short  paper  prepared  for  us  by  an  experienced  farmer,  of  close 
observation,  on  "Water  Remedies;  and  if  he  appears  somewhat 
enthusiastic  in  his  modes  of  treatment,  the  reason  may  be  found 
in  the  fact  that  in  his  farm  practice  of  some  fifteen  years  past, 
with  a  considerable  stock  of  cattle  on  hand,  he  has  never  lost  a 
single  one  by  diseases  of  any  kind,  and  in  all  cases  which  have 
occurred  with  him,  he  has  applied  his  water  remedy  with  com- 
plete success. 

WATER    TREATMENT    FOR    DISEASES    OF    CATTLE. 

"As  bleeding,  blistering,  and  all  violent  remedies  for  the 
human  subject  goes  gradually  out  of  date,  so  the  milder  treat- 
ment, and  greater  trust  in  nature,  ought  to  be  applied  even  to 
our  animals.  But  still,  all  the  treatises  yet  extant,  for  the 
guidance  of  the  herdsman,  after  describing  the  disease,  turn  only 
to  the  medical  vocabulary  for  relief;  and  the  poor  animal  must  be 
bled,  purged,  cauterized  and  irritated,  instead  of  being  soothed, 
quieted,  assisted. 

"In  garget,  or  swollen  udder,  for  instance,  bleeding,  or  a  pur- 
gative is  first  recommended.  Let  us  examine  the  case.  The 
udder  has  become  inflamed,  probably,  the  teats  swollen,  the  milk 
coagulated,  with  more  or  less  fever.  Now,  the  prescription 
says,  'bleed,  purge  with  epsom  salts,  ginger,  nitrate  of  potassa, 
molasses,'  &c.  The  operation  of  this  purgative  is,  to  irritate  the 
stomach,  alimentary  canal  and  intestines,  and  by  sympathy  other 
parts  of  the  system,  of  necessity  increasing,  at  first,  the  fever 
and  irritation,  which  it  is  intended  to  allay.  All  purgative  medi- 


WATER   TREATMENT.  435 

cines  operate  by  irritation,  and  not  as  a  solvent.  It  is  a  direct 
attack  upon  the  vital  functions,  which,  in  self-defence,  pour  upon 
it  a  watery  secretion  from  the  mucus  membrane  of  the  stomach 
and  bowels,  to  dilute  it  and  render  it  less  harmful,  while  it  is 
conducted  along  the  alimentary  canal  by  peristaltic  motion,  and 
expelled  from  the  bowels — called  a  cathartic,  because  nature 
kicks  it  out  as  an  intruder,  an  enemy.  Yet  this  is  called  science ! 

"'But,'  says  the  conservative,  'if  this  is  at  antipodes  with 
nature,  what  shall  we  do  to  harmonize  with  and  assist  nature  to 
recover  her  balance?'  Let  us  see: 

"The  greater  part  of  the  animal  body  is  composed  of  water. 
Three-fourths  of  the  mass  of  the  blood,  and  nine-tenths  of  the 
fluid  secretions,  are  water.  All  nutrient  matters  are  conveyed 
in  water  to  the  blood,  and  through  it  to  all  parts  of  the  system. 
"Water  is  the  only  solvent  for  the  alimentary  and  excrementitious 
matter,  and  through  which  the  waste,  or  effete  matters,  are 
expelled  by  the  excretory  organs.  Water  can  circulate  through 
all  the  tissues  of  the  body,  without  producing  irritation  or  injury. 
In  short,  water  is  in  perfect  accord  with  the  whole  animal  sys- 
tem. 

"Fever  and  inflammation  are  caused  by  some  obstruction  in 
the  circulation  of  the  system,  sometimes  by  a  sudden  cold,  which 
closes  the  pores  of  the  skin  and  prevents  the  proper  excretions. 
In  high  fever,  or  inflammation,  it  has  been  said  '  the  blood  is  on 
fire;  extinguish  the  flame,  and  the  patient  will  be  well.' 

"What  more  is  there  necessary  than  to  cool  off  the  part,  to 
relieve  the  system  of  this  unnatural  heat?  Water  is  the  most 
universal  cooling  agent  in  nature,  is  always  at  hand,  and  easily 
applied.  Every  thing  in  nature  seeks  an  equilibrium.  Apply 
cold  to  the  surface  of  the  skin,  and  the  hot  blood  rushes  there  to 
resist  it,  and  to  equalize  the  heat.  The  tendency  to  congestion 
of  the  internal  organs  in  fevers,  is  relieved  by  an  application  of 
cold  to  the  surface.  Water  not  only  cools  the  skin,  but  opens 


436  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

the  pores  and  promotes  its  excretions.  And  when  we  reflect 
upon  the  large  amount  of  matter  that  passes  off  through  the 
pores  of  the  skin,  we  see  the  importance  of  keeping  it  in  a  clean 
healthy  state. 

GARGET. 

"In  the  case  of  garget,  the  swollen  udder  only  requires  to  be 
cooled  and  cleansed,  and  kept  cool  for  a  short  time,  to  be  restored 
to  its  originally  healthy  condition.  "Water  furnishes  just  the 
means  for  this  purpose.  Without  exciting  and  irritating  the 
whole  system  of  the  cow,  which  is  already  too  much  excited, 
water  will  quiet  and  soothe  the  inflammation,  cool  and  soften 
the  hot  dry  skin  of  the  udder,  and  soon  give  ease  and  comfort  to 
the  cow.  But  how  shall  the  water  be  applied  to  accomplish  this? 

"  Washing  and  sponging  the  bag  with  water  will  not  answer  the 
purpose,  unless  most  unremittingly  applied,  which  would  require 
a  more  faithful  attendant  than  is  generally  found.  But  if  you 
take  an  oil  cloth  or  India  rubber  cloth  bag,  made  to  fit  the  cow's 
udder,  or  nearly  so,  coming  up  to  the  body,  flaring  at  the  top, 
held  up  by  a  strap  over  the  back,  then  filled  with  soft  water  of 
moderate  temperature,  say  65°,  you  have  an  apparatus  that  will 
require  very  little  attention.  This  can  be  applied  by  anybody, 
and  with  much  less  trouble  than  a  purgative  can  be  given. 

"  This  mild  water  will  absorb  gradually  the  heat  from  the  udder, 
and  not  cause  any  shock  to  the  system,  or  much  determination 
of  blood  to  the  part.  Very  cold  water  should  not  be  used  unless 
there  is  much  inflammation  in  the  udder,  as  it  will  cause  a  great 
determination  to  the  part  affected.  The  water  must  be  changed 
as  often  as  it  gets  warm. 

"And  as  there  is  generally  more  or  less  disturbance  of  the 
whole  system,  and  an  inclination  to  constipation,  give  the  cow 
an  injection  of  about  three  pints  of  soft  blood  warm  water,  sim- 
ple water,  no  medication  in  it.  This  will  produce  a  movement 
of  the  bowels,  without  any  irritation,  as  the  water  liquifies  or 


WATER   TREATMENT.  437 

dissolves  the  hard  fasces,  and  cools  off  the  intestines  and  bowels. 
If  the  first  injection  does  not  operate  in  an  hour  or  two,  it  proves 
there  is  much  internal  heat,  that  the  water  has  been  absorbed, 
and  another  should  be  given ;  and  if  the  first  does  operate,  usu- 
ally a  second  should  be  given.  These  injections  are  perfectly 
harmless,  and  can,  certainly,  be  given  as  easily  as  medicated  ones ; 
they  may  always  take  the  place  of  the  purgative,  and  will  answer 
a  much  better  purpose.  When  the  application  is  completed,  let 
the  udder  be  slightly  chafed  with  a  dry  cloth,  and  rubbed  with 
a  little  lard.  We  have  several  times  made  this  application,  and 
always  with  most  gratify  ing  success;  seldom  requiring  more  than 
a  few  hours. 

PUERPERAL    OR    MILK  FEVER. 

"  It  mav  be  thought  that  this  disease  offers  insuperable  obsta- 
cles to  the  use  of  water;  that  as  the  cow,  in  many  cases,  cannot 
stand,  the  remedy  cannot  be  applied.  We  admit,  that  this  dis- 
ease, as  heretofore  treated,  has  been  alarming  and  difficult  to  the 
herdsman;  that  as  it  sometimes  comes  on  so  suddenly,  runs  its 
course  so  rapidly,  and  is  drugged  so  lustily,  if  not  wisely,  that 
it  leaves  his  mind  in  confusion  and  uncertainty. 

"  But  there  is  no  real  difficulty  in  using  water  in  this  case.  The 
true  method  is  to  treat  cows,  before  and  at  calving,  so  that  this 
crisis  in  the  disease  will  not  occur.  (See  remarks  in  "As  Mater- 
nity Approaches,"  pages  416,  417,  &c. — L.  F.  A.)  All  stimu- 
lating food  should  be  avoided,  and  the  animal  kept  where  she  may 
have  uniform  warmth  and  air.  And  as,  in  most  cases,  the  udder  is 
swollen  and  hot,  make  the  application  recommended  for  garget; 
give  copious  injections  of  blood  warm  water,  which  will  relieve  the 
bowels  and  intestines ;  then  take  matting,  or  old  carpeting,  wide 
enough  to  reach  from  udder  to  foreleg,  and  long  enough  to  reach 
around  her,  put  it  under  her  and  bring  it  together  over  the  back, 
then  pour  slightly  cool  water  between  the  blanket  and  her  side, 
thus  wetting  her  over  the  principal  seat  of  fever  or  infiamma- 


438  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

tion,  producing  a  fomentation  and  gradual  cooling  ot  the  whole 
surface,  modifying  her  fever,  and  generally  producing  relief  at 
once.  It  is  well  to  wet  and  rub,  gently,  her  back,  hips  and 
flanks.  As  often  as  this  blanket  begins  to  dry,  water  should  be 
poured  in  as  before,  until  the  fever  passes  away,  when  the 
blanket  may  be  taken  off  and  the  cow  gently  chafed  with  a  dry 
cloth  till  the  hair  is  dry.  Moderately  cool  water  should  be  given 
her  to  drink,  but  no  effort  made  to  stimulate  her  appetite,  which 
will  return  when  nature  calls  for  food.  Let  it  ever  be  remem- 
bered, that  this  treatment,  and  all  treatment  of  sick  animals, 
should  be  performed  in  the  gentlest  manner.  Let  roughness  and 
cruelty  be  monopolized  by  the  butcher,  and  never  used  by  the 
herdsman.  If  this  fever  should  occur  in  cold  weather,  a  dry 
blanket  may  be  put  over  the  wet  one,  to  keep  the  heat  from 
passing  off  too  rapidly,  but  if  the  fever  should  be  high,  there 
will  be  no  danger  of  this. 

"Since  writing  the  foregoing,  Mr.  George  A.  Moore,  of  Buf- 
falo, stated  to  us,  in  confirmation  of  our  treatment  for  milk 
fever,  that  finding  a  cow  in  the  worst  stages  of  this  fever,  and 
quite  unable  to  stand,  he  directed  her  to  be  frequently  and 
thoroughly  washed,  and  covered  with  a  blanket  to  keep  the  evap- 
oration from  being  too  rapid,  and  that  'it  worked  to  a  charm,'  as 
he  phrased  it,  the  cow  soon  recovering  her  usual  strength  and 
milk. 

"The  reader  will  readily  see  how  this  treatment  may  be 
applied  to  other  fevers  and  inflammations.  In  what  is  called 
common,  or  simple  fever,  the  same  application  should  be  made. 
In  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  a  similar  application  may  be  made 
to  the  chest,  and  in  all  cases  of  fevers  and  inflammation,  injec- 
tions should  be  freely  used ;  they  answer  in  all  cases  much  bet- 
ter than  the  drug  purgative.  In  diarrhoea,  the  injection  is  valu- 
able, where  a  change  of  food  is  not  sufficient  to  correct  it,  as  it 


WATER    TREATMENT.  439 

cools  off  the  bowels  and  intestines,  allays  irritation,  and  enables 
nature  to  resume  her  proper  functions. 

WOUNDS,    BRUISES,    SPRAINS,    ETC. 

"  The  best  surgeons  now  regard  water  as  an  important  auxil- 
iary in  treating  wounds.  Lavements,  pourings,  wet  compresses, 
&c.,  are  used  for  the  human  subject;  and  water  answers  equally 
well  for  animals.  Simple  cut  wounds,  when  cleansed  and  dressed 
with  water,  usually  heal  without  suppuration,  especially,  if  the 
blood  be  in  a  healthy  state.  There  being  a  tendency  in  all 
wounds  to  fever  and  inflammation,  water  dressings,  in  the  form 
of  wet  bandages,  keep  down  the  unnatural  heat,  and  allow  nature 
to  go  on  with  the  healing  process.  The  lips  of  the  wound  may, 
generally,  be  held  together  with  adhesive  straps,  and  the  water 
application  put  over.  The  most  dangerous  wounds,  near  some 
vital  part,  are  frequently  healed  with  the  aid  of  water  to  keep 
down  the  inflammation.  We  remember  a  fine  mare  that  stepped 
on  a  hoe,  the  handle  of  which  had  been  split,  leaving  a  sharp 
end,  and  throwing  the  handle  up  under  her  belly,  caused  a  deep, 
ugly  wound,  and  so  lacerating  the  bowels,  that,  being  in  August, 
it  was  thought  almost  useless  to  attempt  saving  her.  But  by 
dressing  the  wound  constantly  with  water,  the  flies  were  kept 
out,  inflammation  prevented,  and  the  wound  healed  in  two 
months,  leaving  the  animal  as  valuable  as  before.  Not  long  ago 
we  had  a  mare  that  accidentally  struck  a  nail  deep  into  her  foot, 
and  being  idle  in  the  stable  at  the  time,  it  was  not  discovered  till 
the  foot  became  much  swollen ;  and  when  the  blacksmith  took 
off  the  shoe,  the  foot  was  in  such  an  inflamed  condition,  that  he 
thought  nothing  could  prevent  gangrene  and  the  loss  of  her  foot. 
But  a  shallow  tub  was  put  into  her  stall,  filled  with  water,  and 
the  foot  placed  in  it.  So  much  did  this  relieve  the  pain,  that 
when  the  water  was  changed,  the  animal  would,  voluntarily,  place 
her  foot  in  it.  The  inflammation  was  soon  reduced,  and  the  foot 
became  sound. 


440  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"  Bruises  and  sprains  are  most  aptly  treated  with  water,  as  they 
are  liable  to  be  followed  by  protracted  inflammation.  The  part 
should  be  immersed  in,  or  poured  with  cold  water,  and  then  kept 
bandaged  with  water,  often  changed,  till  the  inflammatory  action 


"We  did  not  intend  to  do  more  than  to  point  out  the  simple 
principles  in  the  use  of  water,  and  its  application  to  a  few  impor- 
tant diseases  of  cattle,  leaving  the  practitioner  to  enlarge  upon 
it.  "We  hope  the  day  is  not  far  distant,  when  this  more  rational 
practice  will  supersede  the  use  of  drugs ;  and  as  it  has,  to  a  large 
extent,  already  done  so  for  man,  we  hope  that  'a  merciful  man, 
will  be  merciful  to  his  beast.'  " 


We  now  commence  the  extracts  from  Mr.  Lowson's  treatise, 
and,  in  prefacing  it,  will  only  remark,  that  in  view  of  the  "water 
treatment"  just  concluded,  a  modification,  to  some  extent,  of  the 
medicinal  preparations  given  by  him  may  be  safely  recommended, 
when  treatment  of  the  several  disorders  mentioned  becomes 
necessary.  In  this  modification  we  particularly  name  "bleed- 
ing," which  he  so  often  recommends.  In  human  medical  prac- 
tice of  years  ago,  that  was,  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  one 
of  the  first  things  done.  Now,  bleeding  is  rare ;  and  with  better 
effect  on  the  disorders  so  once  treated.  So  with  the  general  use 
of  tartar  emetic,  and  calomel. 

As  in  the  human  system  of  treatment,  may  the  lower  orders  of 
animal  creation  be  managed.  We  now  introduce  Mr.  Lowson: 

There  are  many  uneducated  farmers  who  delight  in  medical 
receipts,  that  are  mystified  and  incomprehensible,  and  the  more 
absurd  they  appear,  the  higher  opinion  they  entertain  of  their 
efficacious  effects. 

Mr.  John  Lawrence,  in  his  able  treatise  on  Cattle  Medicine, 
makes  the  following  sensible  remarks:  "It  should  be  considered 
that  animals  living  in  a  state  of  nature,  regulated  by  the  reason 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  4-i  1 

and  experience  of  man,  would  be  almost  wholly  exempt  from 
disease;  that  their  appetites,  unlike  our  own,  may  be  held  under 
a  constant  control:  that  their  diseases  result  purely  from  the 
negligence  or  erroneous  treatment  of  their  owners.  They  are 
either  too  much  exposed  to  the  rigors  and  changes  of  the 
weather,  or  they  are  gorged  with  food,  denied  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity, or  supplied  with  such  as  is  unwholesome.  Here  we  learn 
the  chief  causes  of  their  maladies.  Learn  to  prevent  them, 
instead  of  undertaking  the  tedious,  unsuitable,  and  hopeless 
task,  of  learning  to  cure  them.  Of  all  things,  let  the  pro- 
prietors of  cattle  renounce  forever,  the  insane  folly  of  offering 
premiums  for  incurable  diseases,  and  the  hope  of  providing  medi- 
cines which,  by  a  sort  of  miraculous  operation,  will  enable  men 
to  continue  in  the  habit  of  exposing  their  animals  to  the  constant 
risk  of  such  diseases.  I  have  no  infallible  receipts  to  offer;  on 
the  contrary,  I  wish  to  impress  my  readers  strongly  with  the 
idea,  that  all  infallible  receipts  are  infallible  nonsense.11 

In  addition  to  these  excellent  observations,  Mr.  J.  White 
states:  "Almost  all  diseases  of  cattle,  arise  either  from  exposure 
to  wet  and  cold  weather,  from  their  food  being  of  a  bad  quality, 
or  deficient  in  quantity,  or  from  being  changed  too  suddenly  from 
poor,  unwholesome  keep,  to  rich  pasture.  It  is  necessary  to 
observe  also,  that  the  animal  is  more  liable  to  be  injured  by 
exposure  to  wet  and  cold,  when  previously  enfeebled  by  bad 
keep,  old  age,  or  any  other  cause,  and  particularly  when  brought 
from  a  milder  and  more  sheltered  situation.  I  have  scarcely  met 
with  a  disease  that  is  not  attributed,  by  those  who  have  the 
care  of  cattle,  to  a  chill;  and  under  this  impression,  the  most 
stimulating  medicines  are  usually  employed;  among  which' we 
generally  find  grains  of  paradise,  ginger,  long  pepper,  and  mus- 
tard, in  large  doses.  It  unfortunately  happens  that  the  disorders 
arising  from  a  chill,  are  often  of  an  inflammatory  nature,  and 
require  a  very  different  treatment.  It  must  be  granted,  how- 
ever, that  cattle  more  frequently  require  stimulating  medicines 
than  horses;  and  that  bleeding  is  not  so  often  required,  nor  can 
it  be  carried  to  such  an  extent  in  the  former  as  in  horses;  par- 
ticularly in  milk  cows.  Many  of  the  medicines  of  which  their 
drinks  or  drenches  are  composed,  are  quite  inert;  some  are  nearly 
so,  and  others  are  very  nasty.  Hog's  dung,  stale  urine,  and  a 


442  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

pint  of  the  animal's  own  blood,  mixed  with  salt,  are  generally 
held  in  high  estimation." 

INFLAMMATION    OF    THE    BOWELS. 

Causes. — This  disorder  may  proceed  from  costiveness,  drink- 
ing cold  water  when  much  heated  and  fatigued.  It  is  sometimes 
produced  by  a  change  of  pasture  and  error  in  diet. 

Symptoms. — This  disease  is  accompanied  with  a  very  severe 
griping  pain,  which  causes  the  animal  to  lie  down  and  become 
very  restless;  frequently  turning  his  head  towards  his  belly,  or 
attempting  to  strike  it  with  the  hind  foot.  The  pulse  becomes 
quicker  than  natural,  the  breathing  rather  quick,  and  when  the 
pain  is  violent,  a  copious  perspiration  takes  place.  If  proper 
remedies  are  not  speedily  applied,  the  disease  will  terminate  in 
mortification  and  death. 

Cure. — In  the  proper  treatment  of  this  complaint,  great  caution 
is  requisite,  according  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  If  the 
pulse  is  much  quicker  than  natural,  the  under  surface  of  the  eye- 
lid unusually  red,  and  the  breathing  disturbed,  let  a  large  quantity 
of  blood  be  immediately  taken  away,  even  five  or  six  quarts;  and 
then,  unless  the  bowels  are  already  unusually  open,  give  the  fol- 
lowing drink: 

Sulphate  of  magnesia,         ......    Bounces, 

Castor  oil,  .......  1  pint, 

Gruel,  ........    1  pint. 

Dissolve  the  salts  in  the  gruel,  and  add  to  them  the  oil,  for  one  dose. 

The  operation  of  this  drink  should  be  assisted  by  clysters. 
When  all  the  above  symptoms,  however,  are  not  observable;  if 
the  under  surface  of  the  eyelid  is  not  redder  than  usual,  or  if  it 
is  rather  paler,  if  the  pulse  is  nearly  in  its  natural  state,  and  par- 
ticularly if  the  animal  is  rather  loose,  or  scours,  the  bleeding 
should  be  moderate;  and  if  he  be  rather  weak,  and  low  in  con- 
dition, it  had  better  be  omitted.  The  following  anodyne  drink 
is  to  be  given: 

Tincture  of  opium,      ......  half  an  ounce, 

Spirits  of  nitrous  ether,  ....  2  ounces, 

Water,    ........  1  pint. 

Mixed  for  one  dose. 

When  the  animal  has  been  kept  for  some  time  upon  dry  food, 
and  has  been  observed  to  dung  sparingly,  and  what  he  does  void 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  443 

appears  to  be  discharged  with  some  difficulty,  is  more  solid  than 
usual,  of  a  different  color,  or  of  an  offensive  smell,  it  shows  that 
the  disease  is  occasioned  by  costiveness;  in  which  case,  relief 
can  only  be  obtained  by  the  laxative  drink  and  clysters.  Bleed- 
ing, however,  must  not  be  omitted,  particularly  if  the  pulse  is 
quickened,  the  under  surface  of  the  eyelid  redder  than  natural, 
and  the  breathing  disturbed.  If  the  laxative  prove  ineffectual 
in  removiug  the  costiveness,  it  should  bo  repeated. 

INFLAMMATION    OF    THE    LUNGS. 

Causes. — This  disease  is  most  prevalent  in  working  cattle, 
owing  to  over-exertion ;  or  from  being  suffered  to  drink  largely 
of  cold  water  immediately  after  working  hard,  and  when  in  a 
state  of  perspiration.  It  may  also  occur  from  exposure  to  cold 
and  wet,  or  from  sudden  and  violent  changes  of  weather ;  indeed, 
the  majority  of  the  internal  diseases  of  cattle  may  very  properly 
be  attributed  to  the  latter  cause.  This  shows  the  necessity  of 
having  sheds,  or  enclosures,  where  cattle  may  be  occasionally 
protected  from  the  inclemencies  of  the  weather.  Such  accom- 
modation is  particularly  requisite  for  such  as  may  be  attacked  by 
this  or  any  other  external  complaint,  and  without  this  precau- 
tion, medical  assistance  will  be  of  no  avail. 

Symptoms. — This  disease  usually  commences  with  a  degree  of 
shivering,  and  is  attended  by  a  loss  of  appetite,  and  a  general 
appearance  of  depression;  but  may  be  soonest  distinguished  by 
the  increasing  motion  of  the  flanks,  or  quickness  of  breathing. 
The  pulse  is  more  frequent  than  natural;  but  small  and  not  easily 
felt.  On  raising  the  upper  eyelid,  its  under  surface  will  be  found 
particularly  red,  sometimes  approaching  to  orange  color.  When 
this  disease  occurs  in  a  milk  cow,  she  soon  loses  her  milk;  and 
the  horns,  ears,  and  legs,  are  commonly  cold. 

Cure. — Early  and  copious  bleeding  is  the  principal  remedy  in 
this  complaint:  and  from  four  to  six  quarts  may  be  taken  from 
a  cow  or  ox  in  tolerable  condition ;  should  the  symptoms  not 
abate  in  five  or  six  hours,  the  operation  should  be  repeated  to 
the  extent  of  three  or  four  quarts  more,  unless  the  animal  faint 
in  the  meantime;  whenever  this  occurs,  on  any  occasion,  the 
bleeding  must  be  immediately  stopped.  Faintness,  when  the 
disease  is  known  to  be  an  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  is,  however, 


444  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

by  no  means  an  unfavorable  omen;  since  it  is  a  proof  that  the 
operation  has  been  carried  to  its  full  extent,  and  a  recovery  is  con- 
sequently more  likely  to  occur.  A  large  sftton  should  be  put  in 
the  dewlap,  and  moistened  with  oil  of  turpentine;  and  the  siden 
should  be  well  rubbed  with  the  following  embrocation : 

Water  of  ammonia,  .  .  .  .  .  .2  ounces, 

Flour  of  mustard,         ......  4  ounces, 

Oil  of  turpentine,     .  .  .  .  .  .  .2  ounces. 

The  whole  to  be  mixed  with  as  much  water  as  will  bring  it  to  the  consistence  of 
cream. 

Immediately  after  the  bleeding,  the  following  drink  may  be 
administered: 

Camphor,  ......    2  drachms, 

Powdered  caraway  seeds,  ...  1  ounce, 

Nitre,          .  .  .  .  .  .  .1  ounce  and  a  half. 

To  be  given  In  a  pint  of  gruel. 

Should  the  animal  remain  costive,  a  clyster  should  be  thrown 
up,  composed  of  about  three  or  four  quarts  of  warm  water,  and 
half  a  pound  of  common  salt.  A  pint  of  castor  oil  may  also  be 
added  to  the  above  drink:  if  this  canuot  be  procured,  sweet  oil, 
linseed  oil,  Or  even  melted  lard,  may  be  substituted. 

Some  writers  recommend  only  a  small  quantity  of  blood  to 
be  taken  daily,  or  every  alternate  day;  but  nothing  can  be  more 
preposterous  and  absurd.  The  use  of  strong,  stimulating,  or 
heating  medicines,  in  this  disorder,  should  be  carefully  avoided. 
An  experienced  writer  observes:  There  is  an  affection  of  the 
lungs  and  parts  connected  with  them.  There  is  not  that  diffi- 
culty and  quickness  in  breathing;  the  pulse  is  weak,  but  not 
much  quicker  than  usual ;  the  kernels  or  glands,  about  the  throat, 
are  often  swollen;  sometimes  there  is  a  considerable  difficulty  in 
swallowing,  which  is  particularly  seen  when  the  animal  attempts 
to  drink;  in  short,  this  is  nothing  more  than  a  severe  degree  of 
catarrh  or  cold;  but  even  in  this  complaint,  moderate  bleeding  is 
necessary,  and  powerful  stimulants  are  extremely  pernicious. 
When  the  disease,  however,  has  not  been  discovered  for  some 
days,  and  the  animal  appears  much  weakened  by  it,  bleeding,  of 
course,  is  improper. 

INFLAMMATION    OP    THE    STOMACH. 

Causes. — Inflammation  of  the  stomach  is  generally  caused  by 
some  acrid,  offensive  substance,  which  the  animal  has  swallowed, 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  445 

or  by  giving  (agreeably  to  the  directions  of  some  foolish  cow- 
doctoring  book,)  too  strong  a  dose  of  astringent  medicines  to 
cure  the  red-water. 

Symptoms. — Every  ruminating  animal  has  more  than  one 
stomach;  the  cow  is  possessed  of  four;  the  first  is  considerably 
larger  than  the  rest,  lies  on  the  left  side,  and  is  commonly  called 
the  paunch.  The  food  having  been  sufficiently  macerated  in  this 
stomach,  is  forced  up  gradually  into  the  mouth,  where  it  under- 
goes a  complete  mastication,  which  is  termed  chewing  the  cud. 
The  food  is  then  again  swallowed,  and  conveyed  to  the  second 
stomach,  for  the  gullet  opens  indifferently  into  both.  It  ends 
exactly  where  the  two  stomachs  meet ;  and  there  is  a  smooth 
gullet,  with  raised  edges,  which  leads  into  the  second  stomach, 
and  thence  to  the  third  and  fourth :  the  animal,  however,  has  the 
power  to  direct  it  into  which  he  will.  The  second  stomach  is 
named  the  honey  comb  bag  or  bonnet.  Its  internal  surface  con- 
sists of  cells,  resembling  a  honey  comb :  here  the  food  undergoes 
a  further  maceration,  and  is  then  conveyed  to  the  third  stomach, 
called  manypliesor  many  folds ;  because  the  internal  surface  rises 
up  into  many  folds.  Some  of  these  folds  are  longer  than  others, 
and  on  their  surface  small  glands  may  be  seen,  something  like 
millet  seed.  From  this  it  passes  into  the  fourth,  or  red  stomach, 
commonly  called  the  collie  or  caul  This  much  resembles  the 
human  stomach,  or  that  of  a  dog;  only  the  inner  folds  are  longer 
and  looser.  Here  the  food  is  perfectly  digested,  and  prepared 
for  the  nourishment  of  the  animal. 

Such  a  complicated  structure  renders  this  organ  particularlv 
liable  to  disease;  inflammation,  however,  does  not  often  occur  as 
a  primary  disorder,  but  is  commonly  a  consequence  of  some  offen- 
sive matter  lodged  in  one  of  the  four  stomachs,  or  from  the  ani- 
mal feeding  so  greedily  as  to  weaken  the  organ,  and  prevent  it 
from  performing  its  functions. 

It  is  usual  to  consider  this  disorder  in  cattle  under  two  distinct 
species;  one  affecting  the  first  stomach  or  paunch,  and  the  other 
the  third  stomach  or  manyplies.  This  latter  is  commonly 
denominated  lakeburn. 

Cure. — When  inflammation  attacks  the  stomach,  without  anv 
injurious  matter  being  swallowed,  or  any  improper  accumulation 
of  food,  the  principal  remedv  will  be  plentiful  bleeding,  absti- 


446  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

nence  from  food,  and  mucilaginous  drinks,  such  as  linseed  tea, 
and  the  administration  of  relaxing  clysters.  Should  it  proceed 
from  swallowing  poison,  the  cure  will  be  found  under  a  different 
head. 

INFLAMMATION    OF    THE     KIDNEYS. 

Causes. — This  disease  frequently  attacks  young  beasts  that 
are  feeding,  or  in  good  condition.  The  kidneys  may  become 
inflamed,  either  from  external  injury,  or  from  irritating  substances 
that  pass  through  them  in  the  course  of  the  circulation:  but 
according  to  the  opinion  of  some  eminent  practitioners,  this  dis- 
order is  most  frequently  produced  by  the  indiscriminate  use  of 
strong  diuretic  medicines. 

Symptoms. — This  disease  commences  with  a  shivering,  suc- 
ceeded by  increased  heat  of  the  body,  and  is  followed  by  a  quick- 
ness of  the  pulse,  and  loss  of  appetite;  the  animal  frequently 
endeavors  to  stale,  and  voids  only  a  small  quantity,  which  is  of 
a  red  color,  and  sometimes  with  much  difficulty  and  pain ;  pres- 
sure on  the  loins  gives  pain,  and  causes  the  animal  to  shrink  or 
give  way  to  it;  there  is  usually  considerable  stiffness  in  the  hind 
parts,  perceptible  when  the  cow  attempts  to  walk.  This  disease 
varies  from  that  termed  red  water;  and  unless  properly  treated 
at  its  commencement,  frequently  terminates  fatally. 

Cure. — Bleeding  is  the  first  and  most  necessary  measure  to  be 
taken  in  this  disorder,  after  which  a  pint  of  castor  oil  may  be 
administered.  Should  there  be  any  signs  of  costiveness,  let  dry 
clysters  of  warm  water  with  a  little  sweet  oil  be  given.  A  lini- 
ment composed  of: 

Oil  of  turpentine,     .  .  .  .  .  .  .2  ounces. 

Flour  of  mustard,          ......  4  ounces, 

Water  of  ammonia,  .  .  .  .  .  ,  .2  ounces. 

Which  must  be  well  rubbed  on  the  loins ;  after  which  let  them 
be  well  clothed,  or  covered  with  a  fresh  sheep's  or  lamb's  skin. 
If  this  does  not  remove  the  constant  straining  to  stale,  let  the 
following  clyster  be  employed : 

Crude  opium,   .  .  .  .  .  .1  drachm  and  a  half. 

Dissolved  in  warm  water,  and  mixed  with  gruel. 

Or  the  following: 

Tincture  of  opium,         ....  1  ounce  and  a  half. 

Thin  gruel,       .  .  .  .  .  .1  quart. 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  447 

If  the  animal  is  very  thirsty,  an  infusion  of  linseed,  or  a  decoc- 
tion of  marshmallows,  is  the  most  proper  drink. 

INFLAMMATION    OF    THE    LIVER. 

Causes. — Fat  beasts,  or  such  as  are  in  good  condition,  are 
most  liable  to  this  disease,  especially  in  hot  weather,  when  over- 
heated by  driving,  or  being  exposed  to  sudden  cold  after  the 
body  has  been  overheated.  It  may  also  be  brought  on  by  blows 
or  bruises  on  the  short  ribs,  by  which  the  liver  may  have  received 
some  injury:  or  by  sudden  changes  of  the  weather. 

Symptoms. — Cattle  are  more  subject  to  diseases  of  the  liver 
than  horses,  because  the  latter  have  no  gall  bladder;  but  in  the 
former  is  one  of  a  considerable  size.  The  symptoms  of  a  dis- 
eased liver  are  complicated ;  and  hence  we  shall  treat  of  these 
subjects  under  the  heads  of  Diarrhoea,  Jaundice,  and  Hepatic 
Consumption.  When  an  acute  inflammation  of  the  liver  occurs, 
it  should  be  treated  in  the  same  manner  as  an  inflammation  of 
the  lungs,  and  is  probably  produced  by  the.  same  causes.  How- 
ever, this  disease  is  commonly  of  a  slow  kind,  causing  a  defect- 
ive action  in  the  organ ;  and  consequently,  an  unhealthy  kind  of 
bile  is  formed,  which  plugs  up  the  ducts  of  the  liver,  and  causes 
a  derangement  in  the  organs  connected  with  it. 

Cure. — It  must  be  correctly  ascertained  whether  this  disease  be 
acute  or  chronic,  before  its  cure  be  attempted.  The  proper  mode 
of  treatment  will  be  found  under  the  heads  before  alluded  to. 

INFLAMMATION  OF  THE  BLADDER. 

Some  cows,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  time  they  are  in  calf, 
have  a  frequent  desire  to  void  their  urine,  owing  to  the  very  irri- 
table state  of  the  bladder.  When  this  is  observed,  it  will  gener- 
ally be  found  to  depend  upon  costiveness;  in  which  case  a  laxa- 
tive drink  and  clyster  are  the  most  suitable  remedies.  This  state 
of  the  bladder  has  been  often,  but  very  improperly,  termed  inflam- 
mation. Skillful  practitioners  are  inclined  to  believe  that  this 
disease  very  rarely  occurs.  Should  the  neck  of  the  bladder 
appear  to  be  obstructed,  or  if  there  be  any  reason  to  suppose  that 
there  is  a  retention  of  urine,  the  female  catheter,  or  even  the 
finger,  may  be  easily  introduced,  in  order  to  allow  the  water  to 
pass  off  freely. 


448  AMERICAN"    CATTLE. 


IN'FLAMMATIOX    OF    THE    BRAIN. 

Causes. — This  complaint  usually  proceeds  from  redundances 
of  blood  in  the  system,  called  an  overflowing  of  the  blood;  or 
by  severe  contusions  of  the  head.  It  is  sometimes  occasioned 
by  excessive  heat,  or  a  sudden  change  from  a  poor  to  a  rich  diet. 

Symptoms. — This  serious  and  fatal  disorder  is  one  of  the  most 
distressing  to  which  cattle  are  subject;  it  is,  however,  fortunately 
of  rare  occurrence.  An  animal  laboring  under  this  disorder,  is 
described  as  having  a  peculiar  wildness  and  anxiety  in  his  looks, 
being  usually  watchful,  starting  often,  groaning  vehementlv,  as 
if  affected  with  sudden  and  violent  pain;  his  respiration  is  slow, 
but  he  sometimes  makes  very  long  respirations,  and  appears  for 
a  time  as  if  his  breathing  was  entirely  suspended.  Suddenly, 
the  beast  will  rise,  turn  about,  and  instantly  lie  down  again  with 
the  same  volatility,  evincing  marks  of  great  restlessness  and 
delirium.  When  the  frenzv  is  high,  the  eyes  look  red  and  furi- 
ous; at  other  times  they  border  on  languor  and  stupefaction;  the 
teeth  are  ground  together,  and  they  will  sometimes  tear  up  the 
turf  with  their  feet,  and  toss  it  into  the  air  with  the  greatest 
violence;  but  the  beast  always  appears  to  labor  under  considera- 
ble fear,  dreading  the  approach  of  anything;  and  is  often  quite 
ungovernable,  scarcely  ever  inclining  to  rest,  except  in  the  latter 
stage  of  the  disease,  when,  if  it  has  been  neglected,  or  has  not 
yielded  to  the  usual  remedies,  a  lethargy  takes  place,  and  the 
animal  sinks.  Sometimes  the  urine  is  hot  and  high-colored ;  but 
it  is  said  that  before  a  fit  of  the  frenzy  takes  place,  the  urine  is 
often  of  a  pale  color,  and  thinner  than  natural 

When  the  symptoms  of  fury  or  irritation  suddenly  cease,  and 
a  lethargv  takes  place,  the  pulse  becoming  feeble,  and  the  strength 
diminishing,  the  case  is  almost  hopeless;  but  should  the  fever, 
redness,  and  flushing  in  the  eye  gradually  subside,  without  any 
variation  of  the  pulse,  or  approaching  debility,  the  beast  may 
generally  be  pronounced  recovering. 

On  opening  the  head  of  such  animals  as  have  died  of  this 
complaint,  very  evident  marks  of  inflammation  appear  about  the 
membranes  of  the  brain,  and  very  frequently  in  the  substance  of 
the  brain  itself.  All  the  vessels  are  turgid  with  blood,  and,  cut- 
ting into  the  brain,  innumerable  little  red  points  are  to  be  seen, 
which  do  not  appear  in  the  natural  state.  Very  commonly  an 


DISEASES    AXD    REMEDIES.  449 

effusion  of  blood,  or  of  purulent  matter  is  found  to  hare  taken 
place  in  the  cavities  of  the  brain,  or  in  some  part  near  its  sur- 
face. 

Cure. — This  complaint  requires  the  most  prompt  and  decisive 
measures  to  be  used  for  its  cure.  Blood  must  be  taken  in  copi- 
ous quantities  from  the  jugular  rein,  or  temporal  artery.  X  . : 
less  than  three  quarts  should  be  taken  from  an  ordinary  01  or 
cow;  and  if  the  animal  is  very  large,  four  may  be  taken;  and 
should  the  symptoms  not  abate,  the  bleeding  must  be  repeated  a 
few  hours  after.  When  the  beast  is  very  furious,  it  is  often 
dangerous  to  bleed  in  a  very  deliberate  way;  but  as  his  recovery 
will  almost  entirely  depend  upon  a  sufficient  loss  of  blood  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  disease,  it  will  not  be  amiss  to  bleed  him  in 
the  manner  described  by  Mr.  Blaine,  who  plunged  a  lancet  into 
each  jugular,  and  permitted  the  animal  to  bleed  till  he  fainted, 
by  which  means,  though  the  disease  was  far  advanced,  he  saved 
the  animaL  After  bleeding,  a  stimulent  blister  should  be  applied 
to  the  top  of  the  head,  and  the  sides  of  the  neck  should  be  well 
rubbed  with  a  mixture  of  cantharides  and  oil  of  turpentine,  and 
other  means  used  to  produce  external  inflammation,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  determining  the  blood  from  the  head.  In  addition  to 
these  means,  costiveness  should  be  carefully  guarded  against. 

ETFLAJCMATIOX    OF    THE    WOMB. 

Causes. — This  disease  is  very  prevalent,  and  usually  proceeds 
either  from  the  cow  having  been  kept  in  too  high  a  condition  at 
the  period  of  calving,  or  from  too  much  violence  having  been 
used  in  the  extraction  of  the  calf. 

Symptoms. — This  disease  is  usually  indicated  by  a  languid  ap- 
pearance, a  quick  pulse,  loss  of  appetite,  and  gradual  loss  of  her 
milk.  As  the  disorder  advances,  the  bladder  becomes  affected, 
and  a  fetid  discharge  from  the  parts  frequently  occurs.  The 
animal  appears  sometimes  to  be  almost  constantly  straining,  as 
though  endeavoring  to  void  something;  in  those  cases  a  small 
quantitv  of  urine  is  frequently  discharged;  at  other  times  the 
urine  is  detained  so  long  as  to  render  it  necessarv  to  relieve  the 
bladder  by  drawing  it  off.  This  may  easily  be  effected,  by  intro- 
ducing an  instrument  through  the  urethera  into  the  bladder,  or 
by  the  finger,  the  passage  being  very  short.  "When  the  disease 
has  proceeded  thus  far,  the  cow  frequently  becomes  so  weak  as 
to  be  incapable  of  standing. 


450  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Cure. — "We  have  before  observed  that  it  is  necessary  to  draw 
off  the  urine  when  too  long  retained.  But  the  principal  remedy 
is  bleeding.  The  following  laxative  drink  may  be  administered : 

Epsom  salts,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .    B  ounces, 

Castor  oil,  .......  8  ounces. 

Dissolved  in  a  quart  of  thin  gruel  or  warm  water. 

Clysters  of  warm  water  and  oil  are  also  useful.  After  the 
bowels  have  been  opened,  the  following  anodyne  may  be  given : 

Tincture  of  opium,      ......    half  an  ounce, 

Spirit  of  nitrous  ether,    .....          J  ounce, 

Camphor,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .2  drachms. 

To  be  given  in  a  pint  of  gruel. 

This  may  be  repeated,  after  ten  or  twelve  hours,  should  it  be 
found  necessary.  When  the  pain  and  straining  are  considerable, 
the  anodyne  clyster  may  likewise  be  given,  which  consists  of 
one  ounce  and  a  half,  or  two  ounces  of  tincture  of  opium,  and 
about  a  quart  of  thin,  fine  gruel. 

When  the  womb,  or  any  other  internal  organ,  is  inflamed  to  a 
considerable  degree,  a  cure  is  almost  impossible.  The  earliest 
attention,  therefore,  should  be  given  to  these  complaints. 

INFLAMMATORY    FEVER. 

Causes. — This  disease  is  known  among  various  people  by 
many  absurd  names,  such  as  Joint  felon,  Quarter-evil,  Quarter- 
ill,  Shrinking  in  Sack- Quarter,  &c.  It  usually  occurs  to  young 
cattle,  between  the  first  and  third  year  of  their  age,  but  most 
commonly  about  the  second  year.  It  may  be  said  to  arise  from 
feeding  them  too  hastily ;  such  as  turning  them,  when  in  a  lean 
state,  into  rich  luxuriant  pastures. 

Symptoms. — The  animal  that  is  seized  with  this  complaint, 
suddenly  becomes  stupid  and  listless,  hanging  down  his  head, 
refusing  his  food,  and  apparently  moves  with  difficulty.  Swell- 
ings speedily  appear  on  various  parts  of  the  body,  which,  when 
pressed  by  the  finger,  make  a  cracking  noise.  The  joints  are 
sometimes  particularly  affected;  at  other  times  the  swellings 
appear  on  the  back,  belly,  or  shoulder.  The  disease  is  rather 
sudden  in  its  attack,  and  frequently  proves  fatal,  particularly  if 
suitable  remedies  are  not  quickly  applied. 

Cure. — Bleeding  is  the  first  and  principal  remedy,  and  must 
be  used  in  proportion  to  the  age,  and  strength  of  the  animal; 
from  three  to  four  quarts  will  generally  be  found  sufficient. 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  451 

After  this,  the  following  purgative   drink  may  be   given  with 
considerable  advantage : 

Carbonate  of  potash,        .          .          .          .          .  .2  drachms, 

Sulphate  of  soda,        ......  6  ounces, 

Barbadoes  tar,        .  .  .  .  .  .  .3  drachms, 

Warm  water,      .......  1  pint. 

Mix  for  one  dose. 

This  dose  will  generally  suffice  for  an  animal  of  two  years  of 
age.  Should  there  be  any  difficulty  in  procuring  these  medicines, 
give  from  four  to  six  ounces  of  common  salt  in  a  pint  of  water; 
the  addition  of  four  ounces  of  castor  oil,  or  even  linseed  oil, 
will  render  it  more  efficacious.  As  this  disease  frequently  proves 
fatal,  in  whatever  manner  it  is  treated,  preventive  measures  should 
be  speedily  applied.  Should  the  animal,  however,  be  relieved 
by  the  treatment  above  described,  it  may  occasion  considerable 
weakness:  and  consequently  the  following  may  be  given  twice 
a  day: 

Ginger,         .........    2  drachms. 

Powdered  caraway  seeds,     .....  1  ounce. 

To  be  given  in  a  pint  of  oatmeal  gruel,  or  ale. 

Should  the  joints  be  affected  and  swollen,  they  may  be  rubbed 
with  the  following  liniment : 

Spirit  of  sal-ammoniac,       .          .          .          .          .  .1  ounce, 

Linseed  oil,          .......  4  ounces, 

Oil  of  turpentine,     .          .          .          .          .          .  .2  ounces. 

Mix. 

Setons  in  the  dewlap,  or  other  parts  of  the  body,  are  occasion- 
ally applied  as  preventives  of  this  disorder.  Should  it  be  pro- 
duced by  feeding  cattle  too  hastily,  Mr.  Lawrence  has  very 
judiciously  advised  that  a  short,  or  inferior  keep  should  be 
reserved,  as  a  digesting  place,  where  cattle  may  occasionally  be 
turned,  to  empty  and  exercise  themselves.  This  is  certainly  pre- 
ferable to  bleeding,  or  any  medical  preventive. 

BLOODY  MURRAIN,   RED  WATER  AND  BLACK  WATER. 

Causes. — The  red  water  and  black  water  arise  from  a  preter- 
natural quantity  of  blood  being  determined  to  the  kidneys,  and 
a  consequent  rupture  of  some  of  the  minute  blood  vessels  of 
those  organs.  This  undue  determination  of  blood  to  the  kidneys 
is  very  frequently  induced  by  turning  cattle,  in  the  spring  of  the 
year,  into  low  pasture  grounds,  or  woodland  pastures,  where  the 
air  is  moist,  and  lessens  perspiration,  occasioning  the  blood  to 


452  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

become  too  watery.  The  balance  of  circulation  is  deranged  froir 
the  perspiration  being  suppressed,  and  a  too  great  quantity  of 
blood  is  in  consequence  determined  to  the  kidneys,  which  gives 
rise  to  the  disease.  On  removing  cattle,  thus  affected  from  the 
state  of  the  atmosphere,  into  a  more  elevated  situation  where  the 
air  is  dryer,  the  beast  will  frequently  be  restored  without  the  aid 
of  medicines.  It  very  often  proceeds  from  cattle  being  removed 
from  good  to  bad  land,  the  grass  of  which  disagrees  with  them, 
and  the  vigor  of  the  body  is  thereby  impaired,  and  they  in  con- 
sequence take  cold,  which  flies  to  the  kidneys,  and  occasions  red 
water.  It  is  often  produced  by  their  taking  cold  from  the 
changeable  state  of  the  weather,  or  driving  them  long  distances 
in  the  day,  and  turning  them  into  fields  at  night,  where  they 
take  cold. 

The  red  and  black  water  is  most  prevalent  in  the  spring  and 
summer,  when  the  grass  is  nutritious  and  produces  a  plethoric 
state  of  the  system,  or  what  is  commonly  called  a  redundancy  or 
overflowing  of  the  blood,  which  favors  an  unequal  distribution  of 
the  blood,  when  they  are  affected  by  the  causes  above  mentioned. 
Some  cattle  are  more  liable  to  the  red  water  than  others,  which 
may  in  a  great  measure  be  owing  to  the  nature  of  the  soil,  and 
the  state  of  the  air  they  have  been  accustomed  to;  these,  when 
removed  into  pastures  where  the  land  is  bad,  and  the  air  moist, 
are  frequently  attacked  with  it. 

Symptoms. — These  diseases  seldom  occur  separately,  and 
almost  prevalent  among  milk  cows.  Mr.  Clater  conceives  the 
red  water  to  be  the  original  disease,  and  the  black  water  to  come 
on  as  the  complaint  advances,  which  is  generally  an  unfavorable 
symptom,  often  arising  from  inefficient  treatment.  When  the 
change  takes  place  from  red  to  black  water,  the  animal  in  general 
stales  free  from  either  for  several  times.  In  slight  cases,  where 
the  blood  is  passed  away  with  the  urine,  the  beast  does  not 
appear  to  be  affected  by  it;  if  a  cow,  she  holds  to  her  quantity 
of  milk,  and  seems  no  worse.  But  when  the  blood  so  passed 
away  is  considerable,  and  sometimes  for  a  length  of  time,  it 
reduces  the  quantity  of  milk,  and  likewise  the  animal  itself,  to  a 
very  low  state;  and  if  some  powerful  remedy  is  not  resorted  to. 
the  beast  must  inevitably  sink  under  tho  pressure  of  the  disease. 
In  these  bad  cases,  the  milk  sometimes  becomes  discolored,  and 
the  beast  is  frequently  so  weak,  that  she  is  unable  to  rise  when 
down,  and  requires  gruel  to  be  horned  into  her. 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  453 

The  red  water  is  sometimes  attended  with  a  lax  state  of  the 
bowels,  and  in  some  instances  a  considerable  quantity  of  blood 
is  evacuated  with  the  thin  dung,  and  none  with  the  urine. 

Cure. — Purgative  medicines  are  the  best  remedies  in  these 
disorders.  The  following  is  recommended  as  a  safe  and  effica- 
cious purge: 

Castor  oil, 6  ounces, 

Nitre,       ........  I  ounce, 

Epsom  salts.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .4  ounces, 

Whey,  or  thin  gruel,     ......  1  quart. 

Mixed. 

Should  this  not  prove  effectual  in  removing  the  disease,  the 
following  drink  must  be  administered : 

Oil  of  turpentine,     .          .          .          .          .          .          .2  ounces, 

Alum  dissolved,  ......  1  ounce, 

Terra  japonica,      .  ......    1  ounce. 

Some  prescribe  the  following: 

Epsom  salts,  .          .          .          .          .          .          .4  ounces, 

Cream  of  tartar,  ......  1  ounce, 

Castor  oil,     ....  ...    4  ounces. 

Mixed  in  whey. 

After  this  gentle  purge,  the  following  to  be  given : 

Roche  alum,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .2  ounces, 

Tincture  of  cantharides,         .....  2  ounces. 

To  be  given  in  a  quart  of  liine  water. 

Mr.  White  observes,  that  an  experienced  farmer,  whose  cows 
were  affected  by  the  red  water,  gave  them  half  a  pint  of  the 
juice  of  the  white-blossomed  nettle,  which  speedily  cured  the 
disease. 

When  the  animal  is  perceived  to  be  frequently  endeavoring 
to  stale,  voiding  only  a  small  quantity,  with  considerable  pain 
and  difficulty,  mucilaginous  drinks,  such  as  infusion  of  linseed 
and  decoction  of  marshmallows,  are  most  likely  to  afford  relief. 

SCOURING    ROT. 

Causes. — This  disease  is  met  with  at  every  season  of  the  year, 
but  is  more  prevalent  in  autumn,  particularly  in  low,  swampy  sit- 
uations. This  complaint  generally  arises  from  suppressed  per- 
spiration, induced  by  the  sudden  vicissitudes  of  the  weather; 
particularly  when  the  animal  has  been  over-driven,  or  heated  by 
working  immediately  before.  Drinking  too  much  water,  under 
similar  circumstances,  will  likewise  produce  the  disease.  A  want 


454  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  nourishment,  especially  in  cows  that  are  regularly  milked, 
will  often  cause  the  scouring  rot. 

Symptoms. — In  this  complaint,  farmers  frequently  lose  several 
of  their  cattle  in  a  season ;  owing  to  which  it  has  received  the 
name  of  the  scouring  rot.  When  the  purging  has  been  of  long 
continuance,  a- general  weakness  is  produced,  accompanied  with 
a  loss  of  flesh.  The  skin  hangs  loose  about  the  body;  some- 
times the  animal  appears  hide-bound;  the  hair  turns  sandy,  or 
of  a  greyish  color;  the  eyes  grow  pale;  the  pulse  is  weak  and 
irregular;  the  excrements  thin  and  slimy,  frequently  changing 
color,  particularly  in  the  early  stages  of  the  disease;  but  in  the 
further  stages  of  the  complaint,  the  dung  appears  like  half-chewed 
food ;  the  food  appearing  to  pass  through  the  bowels  without 
undergoing  the  process  of  digestion.  Some  writers  state,  that 
when  animals  have  been  long  affected  by  the  scouring  rot,  they 
feel  a  considerable  degree  of  distress  and  pain  when  grasped  on 
each  side  of  the  back  bone,  just  behind  the  shoulders;  and  this 
is  considered  as  a  certain  sign  that  the  beast  has  become  unsound 
from  the  scouring  rot. 

Cure. — In  the  cure  of  this  complaint  in  cattle,  a  variety  of 
remedies  have  been  proposed.  Mr.  Lawrence  recommends,  that 
as  soon  as  the  disease  is  apparent,  the  cattle  should  be  taken  to 
the  home  fold,  and  put  on  dry  food,  which  will  generally  super- 
sede the  necessity  of  medicine.  The  remedy,  which  Mr.  Elaine 
seems  chiefly  to  rely  on,  is  the  following  decoction : 

Galls,      .......    half  an  ounce, 

Nux  vomica,          .....  1  drachm  and  a  half, 

Ipecacuanha,     .  .  .  .  .  .1  ounce, 

White  vitriol 20  grains, 

Alum,     .          .          .          .          .          .          .2  drachms. 

In  a  quart  of  water  boiled  to  a  pint. 

This  receipt  may  probably  appear  too  complex,  and  its  ingred- 
ients too  numerous.  The  following  will  be  found  of  service : 

Ginger,       .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1  drachm. 

Kino, 2  drachms, 

Castile  soap,  softened  with  water,       ,  .  .  .2  drachms, 

Alum,  ........  half  an  ounce. 

Powder  of  oak  bark,  sufficient  to  make  a  ball. 

"Where  the  scouring  has  continued  for  any  length  of  time,  the 
bowels  must  be  extremely  sore  and  tender.  In  such  cases, 
mucilaginous  or  oily  substances  would  be  useful,  and  they  should 
be  given  frequently,  both  by  the  mouth  and  by  way  of  clyster. 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  455 

Mr.  Lawrence  recommends  a  pound  of  fresh  mutton  suet,  boiled 
in  three  quarts  of  milk  until  the  suet  is  dissolved,  to  form  a  drink, 
to  be  given  warm.  This,  we  should  suppose,  would  answer 
extremely  well.  Should  the  disease  increase  to  an  alarming 
height,  starch  clysters,  with  laudanum,  may  be  given  as  a  last 
resource.  Dr.  Elaine  observes,  that,  in  these  cases,  he  should 
try  animal  food  altogether ;  giving  broth  to  drink,  or  the  blood 
of  other  animals,  with  meat  balls  forced  down  the  throat ;  as  he 
thinks  it  very  probable  that  a  change  might  thus  be  effected  in 
the  constitution,  which  might  ultimately  lead  to  a  perfect  cure. 

Mr.  White  considers  that  the  immediate  cause  of  the  disorder 
is  an  unhealthy  action  of  the  liver,  and  recommends  the  follow- 
ing drink,  which  he  admits  will  somewhat  increase  the  scouring 
at  first : 

Quicksilver  pill,          .....    from  2  to  3  drachms, 

Castor  oil,   ......         4  ounces, 

India  rubber,    .          .          .          .          .          .3  drachms, 

Gruel,  ......         1  pint. 

Mixed  for  one  dose. 

This  should  be  well  stirred  immediately  before  it  is  given,  as 
the  quicksilver  pill  is  heavy,  and  would  otherwise  soon  separate 
and  fall  down;  for  the  same  reason  it  is  to  be  given  in  gruel, 
which  will  suspend  it  longer  than  a  thinner  fluid. 

This  dose  should  be  repeated  for  three  mornings  following, 
unless  it  causes  sickness  or  griping,  or  increases  the  scouring  in  a 
considerable  degree.  On  the  fourth  morning,  commence  with 
the  following  astringent  drink,  or  earlier,  should  the  above  medi- 
cine produce  its  effect  before  the  three  doses  have  been  taken. 
During  the  time  the  cow  is  taking  the  former  medicine,  she 
should  be  supplied  with  warm  fluid,  of  which  thin  gruel  is  the 
best,  and  must  not  be  exposed  to  a  cold  air. 

Starch,  .......  .4  ounces. 

Mixed  in  a  similar  manner  as  is  employed  for  stiffening  clothes,  with  three  pints 
or  two  quarts  of  water,  so  as  to  form  a  thick,  mucilaginous  fluid. 

To  this  add : 

Catechu,  or  terra  japonica,  .  .  .  half  an  ounce, 

Tincture  of  opium,          .  .  .  .  .  2  drachms, 

Ginger,  .          .  .          .          .          .          .1  ounce. 

Mixed. 

After  the  scouring  has  ceased,  the  cow  should  be  brought 
back  by  degrees  to  her  usual  state.  At  first  she  should  be 
turned  out  for  a  few  hours,  in  some  dry  pasture,  when  the 


456  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

weather  is  agreeable ;  and  her  water  should  be  given  gradually 
less  warm.  This  precaution  is  highly  requisite,  as  the  affected 
parts  do  not  immediately  recover  their  strength  after  the  scour- 
ing has  ceased. 

In  the  diarrhoea,  which  arises  from  exhausting  a  cow  by  con- 
stant milking,  when  she  is  not  sufficiently  fed,  or  is  supplied  with 
food  of  a  bad  quality,  the  remedy  is  sufficiently  obvious.  But, 
in  this  case,  it  too  often  occurs  that  the  constitution  is  worn  out 
before  it  is  thought  necessary  to  alter  the  poor  animal's  condi- 
tion. Whenever  this  change  is  made,  it  must  not  be  done  too 
hastily,  as*  other  diseases  may  be  produced  thereby. 

When  calves  are  first  weaned,  they  are  subject  to  a  species  of 
purging,  which  sometimes  proves  extremely  obstinate;  and  some 
suppose  that  the  principal  reason  of  the  calf-feeders  giving  them 
chalk  to  lick,  is  to  prevent  this  purging.  It  appears  that  this 
disease  will  take  place  in  calves,  when  they  are  fed  on  the  milk 
of  some  particular  cows;  and  that  when  the  milk  is  changed, 
the  complaint  goes  off.  The  purging  may  generally  be  sus- 
pended, by  boiling  starch  and  bean  flour  in  their  milk;  but  should 
it  still  continue  obstinate,  a  little  ginger  and  laudanum  may  be 
added. 

The  last  named  writer  also  observes:  "As  to  the  medical 
treatment  of  this  complaint,  much  useless  expense  is  often  incur- 
red. The  most  profitable  plan  is,  I  believe,  to  put  the  animal 
under  cover,  especially  in  winter,  autumn,  and  the  early  part  of 
spring;  and  feed  on  hay,  bran  mashes,  with  oats,  or  oil  cake,  and 
endeavor  to  make  her  fit  for  the  butcher.  If  it  be  a  milk  cow, 
she  should  be  suffered  to  go  dry.  Should  the  scouring  continue, 
notwithstanding  this  change,  give,  in  the  first  place,  the  drench 
before  directed,  or  the  following : 

Common  salt, .8  ounces, 

Flour  of  mustard,         .....  2  ounces, 

Water,            .  .           .           .           .           .  .1  pint  and  a  half, 

Oil,  or  melted  lard,        .....  half  a  pound. 

"  This  will  increase  the  discharge  for  a  short  time;  afterwards, 
the  dung  will  gradually  become  of  a  more  natural  consistence. 
But  should  the  scouring  continue,  give  the  astringent  drink 
already  prescribed,  or  the  following : 

Powdered  catechu,    .  .  .  .  .  .6  drachms, 

Tincture  of  opium,        .....  half  an  ounce, 

Powdered  ginger,      .  .          .  .  .    2  to  3  drachms, 

Warm  ale 1  pint  and  a  half. 

Mixed. 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  457 

"The  powder,  or  tincture  of  galls,  would  also  be  found  a  pow- 
erful astringent.  Some  farmers  give  mutton  suet  boiled  in  milk, 
with  four  ounces  of  oil  of  turpentine.  I  once  gave  eight  ounces 
of  oil  of  turpentine  mixed  with  a  quart  of  gruel,  and  afterwards 
kept  the  animal  under  cover,  upon  hay  and  bran  mashes.  The 
dung  acquired  a  healthy  appearance  in  a  short  time;  but  on 
turning  her  out  again,  the  disease  quickly  returned." 

Dr.  Dickson  thinks  that  much  advantage  may  be  derived,  in 
these  cases,  from  a  strong  decoction  of  hartshorn  shavings  and 
cassia,  with  powdered  chalk,  in  the  proportion  of  half  a  pound 
of  chalk,  four  ounces  of  shavings,  and  an  ounce  of  cassia,  to  be 
boiled  together  in  two  quarts  of  water  to  three  pints,  adding  the 
cassia  towards  the  close  of  the  boiling.  A  horn  full  of  this  mix- 
ture is  to  be  given  several  times  in  the  day,  shaking  it  well 
every  time. 

CATARRH,  OR    COLD. 

Causes. — The  causes  of  colds  are  in  general  imperfectly  under- 
stood, and  ought  to  be  attended  to. 

Symptoms. — There  are  two  species  of  catarrh,  viz.:  simple 
cold,  and  epidemic  catarrh,  or  what  is  frequently  termed  influ- 
enza. The  latter  sometimes  will  attack  a  whole  herd  of  cows, 
or  oxen  in  one  night.  When  first  attacked,  the  animal  seems 
dull  and  languid;  the  eyes  appear  watery,  and  are  sometimes 
partially  closed ;  and  the  appetite  is  generally  diminished ;  and 
usually  attended  with  cough.  Indeed,  there  are  not  unfre- 
quently  swellings  under,  or  below  the  ears,  a  discharge  from  the 
nostrils,  and  also  a  difficulty  in  swallowing.  When  this  com- 
plaint rages  thus  violently,  it  is  commonly  called  influenza,  or 
the  distemper,  and  though  some  persons  suppose  it  to  be  conta- 
gious, it  has  not  been  correctly  ascertained  that  it  is  so. 

Though  colds  are  very  prevalent,  especially  in  very  damp,  or 
cold  weather,  and  are  often  deemed  of  too  little  consequence  to 
deserve  particular  notice,  yet,  if  the  animal  is  neglected,  and  suf- 
fered to  remain  exposed  to  the  vicissitudes  of  the  weather,  very 
serious  results  may  ensue.  In  consequence  of  such  neglect,  the 
animal  is  frequently  observed  to  decline  gradually,  both  in  sub- 
stance and  strength,  and  also  to  become  hide-bound,  and  possess 
a  rough,  staring  coat;  tubercles  are  ultimately  formed  in  the 
lungs,  the  mesenteric  glands  become  enlarged,  and  the  passage 
20 


458  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

by  which  nutriment  is  conveyed  to  the  blood,  is  thereby 
obstructed;  at  length  atrophy  and  death  will  inevitably  ensue. 

Cure. — It  is  highly  requisite  that  this  disorder  should  be 
attended  to  as  soon  as  it  is  apparent.  "With  respect  to  its  cure, 
very  considerable  advantage  will  result  from  nursing  and  placing 
the  animal  in  a  warm  situation,  and  allowing  him  warm,  nour- 
ishing fluids,  such  as  gruel,  infusion  of  malt,  &c.  At,  some  sea- 
sons of  the  year,  colds  are  so  prevalent  as  to  be  considered  epi- 
demic and  infectious ;  generally  occurring  with  great  violence, 
and  accompanied  by  fever ;  considerable  debility  also  ensues  soon 
after  the  attack.  On  this  occasion,  hot  stimulating  drenches, 
though  usually  recommended,  are  very  injurious. 

At  the  commencement  of  colds,  bleeding  is  generally  proper; 
but  should  be  avoided  when  the  animal  is  very  weak  and  low  in 
condition.  The  quantity  of  blood  taken,  ought  rarely  to  exceed 
two  quarts.  Should  the  animal  be  costive,  a  laxative  drink  may 
be  given;  but  if  he  purges  or  scours,  the  following  powder  may 
be  administered: 

Tincture  of  opium,       .....    half  an  ounce, 

Antimonial  powder,          ....  2  drachms, 

Powdered  ginger,         .  .  .  .  .3  drachms, 

Camphor,       ......  1  drachm  and  a  half. 

To  be  given  in  oatmeal  gruel,  and  repeated  after  eight  or  ten  hours,  if  it  be  found 
necessary. 

Should  there  be  found  considerable  difficulty  in  swallowing, 
apply  the  following  liniment,  and  let  it  be  well  rubbed  about  the 
throat: 

Liquid  ammonia,  commonly  termed  spirits  of  sal-ammoniac,  half  an  ounce, 
Oil  of  turpentine,       ......  1  ounce, 

Common  oil,        ....  ...    1  ounce. 

Mixed. 

In  the  case  of  common  colds,  it  will  be  unnecessary  to  admin- 
ister medicine,  but  the  animal  should  be  placed  in  some  comfort- 
able situation,  and  well  attended  to.  Bleeding,  in  slight  colds,  is 
rarely  requisite ;  except  the  animal,  owing  to  a  change  of  situa- 
tion, becomes  hot  and  feverish,  and  the  eyes  appear  red,  and  the 
flanks  move  quickly ;  in  which  case,  he  must  be  bled  copiously. 
Should  the  animal  prove  costive,  the  laxative  should  also  be 
given.  "When  no  feverish  symptoms  are  apparent,  the  laxative 
should  be  mixed  with  an  ounce  of  caraway  seeds,  and  three  or 
four  drachms  of  ginger. 

When  the  distemper  has  been  improperly  treated,  the  animal 
becomes  extremely  weak,  and  consequently  his  strength  should 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  459 

be  recruited  as  early  as  possible ;  on  which  occasion,  a  tonic  may 
be  given  two  or  three  times  a  day,  which,  with  a  warm,  nourish- 
ing diet,  and  proper  care  and  attendance,  will  ultimately  effect  a 
recovery. 

It  may  be  necessary  to  observe,  however,  that  should  the 
animal  become  costive,  a  mild  laxative,  consisting  of  about  half 
a  dose,  will  generally  suffice.  A  moderate  quantity  »f  grass  will 
be  of  service,  if  it  can  be  conveniently  procured,  but  in  favora- 
ble weather,  some  warm  sheltered  situation  is  the  best  place. 

A  laxative,  composed  as  follows,  may  be  used : 

Powdered  caraway  seeds,    .  .  .  .  .  .1  ounce, 

Sulphate  of  soda,  (Glauber  salts,)  ....  1  pound, 

Oatmeal  gruel,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1  quart. 

Mixed  for  one  dose. 

If  this  disease  should  appear  to  be  epidemic,  speedy  measures 
should  be  adopted  for  its  prevention,  which  is  more  particularly 
requisite  when  rain  and  cold  winds  prevail :  for  catarrh,  or  cold, 
is  frequently  an  insidious  complaint,  and  if  not  attended  to  may 
ultimately  produce  very  unfavorable  results. 

THE    MANGE. 

Causes. — This  disease  would  seem  to  arise  from  poor  living 
and  want  of  due  cleanliness. 

Symptoms. — This  disease  generally  makes  its  appearance  early 
in  the  spring,  as  soon  as  the  warm  weather  begins  to  set  in,  and 
is  commonly  called  by  graziers,  the  scab,  or  scurf;  a  popular 
writer  thus  describes  it: 

"The  skin  is  stiff,  and  sits  fast  to  every  part  of  the  carcass,  as 
if  too  small  for  the  body.  It  makes  its  first  appearance  about 
the  head  and  jaws  of  the  animal,  with  a  scurfy,  pale,  and  dry 
texture ;  and  the  beast  begins  to  scratch  against  everything  that 
comes  in  its  way;  it  then  shows  itself  along  the  back,  and  behind 
the  shoulders ;  and  if  timely  aid  be  not  procured,  the  animal  will 
tear  its  skin  till  it  bleeds  violently,  which  ought  to  be  prevented 
if  possible,  as  the  scabs,  which  are  the  consequence  of  bleeding, 
must  retard  the  efficacy  of  the  ointment,  and  the  loss  of  the 
time  confirms  the  disorder." 

Cure. — The  following  ointment  will  prove  serviceable  in  this 
ise: 

Elecampane  root  powdered,          .....    2  ounces, 
C  -phurvr 
th  hog': 


Sulphur  vivum  powdered,       .  .  .  .  .  2  ouncesi 

Mixed  with  hog's  lard. 


-460  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

A.  recent  author  recommends  the  following: 

Hog's  laril,         .......    half  a  pound, 

Oil  of  vitriol,          ......  1  ounce. 

Gradually  adding  the  oil  of  vitriol  to  the  lard. 

Internal  remedies,  such  as  sulphur  and  gentle  laxatives,  are 
occasionally  requisite ;  the  most  particular  attention  must  be  paid 
to  cleanliness,  exercise,  and  diet.  In  cases  where  the  animals 
that  have  caught  the  disease  are  very  full  of  blood,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  bleed  and  give  cooling  physic,  before  the  ointment 
be  applied.  Th«  skin  should  always  be  thoroughly  washed  with 
soap  and  water,  both  before  and  after  the  application  of  the 
ointment,  and  the  animals  should  be  confined  till  they  are  per- 
fectly free  from  the  disease. 

The  following  observations,  extracted  from  the  "Edinburgh 
Medical  and  Surgical  Journal,"  are  inserted  as  tending  to  show 
the  injurious  effects  resulting  from  an  improper  treatment  of  the 
mange : 

''For  the  msnge  in  five  cows  of  Mr.  Hatchett,  a  man,  vul- 
garly called  a  beast-leech,  or  cow  doctor,  applied  a  preparation 
containing  tobacco  and  corrosive  sublimate.  In  the  course  of 
one  hour  and  a  quarter  they  all  died,  preceded  by  convulsions. 
The  facts  were  proved,  on  an  action  against  this  doctor,  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  jury,  who  awarded  the  damages.  An  experi- 
ment has  been  subsequently  made  by  an  intelligent  medical  prac- 
titioner, on  the  diseases  of  dogs,  in  which  six  grains  of  shag 
tobacco,  infused  in  about  one  drachm  of  water,  being  applied  to 
the  skin  of  a  dog,  presently  killed  the  animal.  It  is,  however, 
well  known  that  dogs  are  very  commonly  washed  with  tobacco 
water  for  the  mange,  without  poisoning  them ;  but  I  have  known 
it  occasion  long  continued  nausea,  vomiting,  purging,  and  dis- 
charge of  urine.  Probably,  however,  it  requires  a  concentrated 
solution  of  tobacco  to  prove  destructive  to  life.  The  same 
observation  is  made  on  the  effects  of  corrosive  sublimate  and 
tobacco,  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Hatchett's  cows.  Probably,  too, 
these  applications  may  occasionally  have  produced  death,  but 
the  cases  were  unnoticed.  It  is  also  questionable,  whether  the 
tobacco  or  corrosive  sublimate  poisoned  the  cows,  or  the  two 
conjointly.  Tobacco  does  not  kill  horses,  for  it  is  very  com- 
monly eaten  with  corn,  to  increase  the  appetite;  nor  do  very 
large  dosea  of  corrosive  sublimate,  taken  internally,  poison 
them." 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  461 


DYSENTERY. 

Causes. — This  disorder  commonly  arises  from  suppressed  per- 
spiration, induced  by  exposure  to  sudden  changes  of  weather, 
especially  when  it  has  been  previously  fine  and  warm.  Cattle 
that  are  over-heated  by  driving,  and  turned  into  a  pasture  at 
night,  where  they  lie  down  upon  wet  grass,  are  sometimes  attacked 
by  it.  These  causes  produce  the  complaint,  by  occasioning  a 
peculiar  inflammation  of  some  parts  of  the  bowels. 

Symptoms. — This  complaint  is  accompanied  by  an  inflamma- 
tory fever  and  griping  pains,  and  is  sometimes  termed  the  bloody 
ray.  The  discharge  of  dung  is  frequent,  emitting  an  offensive 
smell,  and  is  often  mixed  with  the  mucus,  or  natural  lining  of 
the  bowels.  It  is  very  similar  to  the  disease  of  horses  called 
molten  grease. 

Cure. — Copious  bleeding  should  first  be  applied,  and  a  pint  of 
castor  oil  be  taken  afterwards.  Should  the  animal  not  appear 
relieved,  in  some  degree,  in  six  hours,  the  pulse  remaining  quick, 
and  the  under  surface  of  the  eyelid  particularly  red,  the  bleeding 
must  be  repeated.  After  the  symptoms  have  been  subdued,  the 
animal  will  be  very  weak;  and  consequently,  every  exertion 
must  be  used  to  support  its  strength.  For  this  purpose,  oat- 
meal gruel,  or  gruel  made  with  wheaten  flour,  and  malt  mashes, 
may  be  given  freely.  Should  the  discharge  be  considerable, 
bleeding  would  be  injurious:  the  castor  oil,  however,  is  com- 
monly necessary ;  and,  if  it  cannot  be  easily  procured,  sweet  oil 
or  melted  lard  should  be  substituted.  Gruel  formed  of  arrow 
root,  is  an  excellent  drink  in  this  complaint.  If  the  disease 
should  still  continue,  half  an  ounce,  or  six  drachms  of  tincture 
of  opium  may  be  given  in  arrow  root  gruel. 

If  calves  are  improperly  managed  at  the  time  of  weaning, 
they  are  liable  to  a  severe  diarrhoea,  which,  if  not  attended  to, 
very  frequently  proves  dangerous.  Flour  milk  gruel,  with  a 
little  prepared  chalk,  is  the  best  remedy  for  this  complaint;  a 
drachm  of  ginger,  and  from  half  a  drachm  to  a  drachm  of  tinc- 
ture of  opium,  may  be  added  in  very  obstinate  cases. 

THE    FOULS. 

This  complaint  in  cattle  is  somewhat  similar  to  canker  in  the 
horse,  and  generally  produces  a  discharge  of  fetid  matter  from  be- 


462  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

tween  the  claws  of  the  hoof,  or  occasionally  from  one  claw  only, 
in  which  cases,  cattle  are  commonly  said  to  be  foul  in  the  foot. 
This  disease  is  usually  distinguished  amongst  graziers  by  the 
names  of  the  soft,  and  the  horny  foul,  and  requires  different 
modes  of  treatment.  In  the  soft  fouls,  there  is  a  running  of 
very  offensive  matter  from  the  heels,  or  between  the  claws  of 
the  hoof,  and  the  animal  is  exceeding  lame.  In  this  case,  the 
treatment  consists  in  cutting  away  all  the  soft  and -spongy  parts, 
and  afterwards  applying  a  caustic  liquid.  The  parts  should  then 
be  covered  with  a  little  mild  ointment;  or,  (as  farmers  frequently 
do,)  wrap  a  piece  of  fat  bacon  around  the  part,  tie  it  on  the  foot, 
and  let  it  remain  for  two  or  three  days.  In  the  meantime,  the 
animal  should  stand  very  clean,  and  be  allowed  as  much  rest  as 
possible. 

In  the  horny  fonts,  the  animal  appears  very  lame,  and,  on  an 
examination  of  the  foot,  the  hoof  feels  very  hot,  and  on  pressing 
it  hard,  the  animal  feels  considerable  pain.  Some  part  of  the 
horn  generally  penetrates  into  the  softer  parts  of  the  foot,  either 
at  the  heel,  or  between  the  hoofs.  In  undertsiking  the  cure,  it 
will  be  requisite  to  cut  away  these  parts  of  the  horn,  as  well  as 
any  other  part  under  which  much  inflammation  is  apparent.  If 
it  should  be  necessary  to  cast  the  animal,  particular  care  should 
be  taken  in  selecting  a  soft  place  for  the  purpose  of  throwing 
him  on.  When  the  hoof  is  pared  away,  a  rag  moistened  with 
vinegar  and  water,  should  be  tied  on,  and  the  animal  sent  to 
graze  on  some  soft  ground.  Should  the  inflammation  and  pain 
be  very  great,  it  may  probably  be  requisite  to  bleed  from  the 
veins  of  the  foot. 

COWS    PREVIOUS   TO    CALVING. 

"The  diseases,"  observes  Mr.  White,  "which  most  commonly 
occur  at  this  time,  are  stranguary,  or  difficulty  in  voiding  urine, 
and  costiveness;  and  these  it  is  highly  necessary  to  attend  to,  as 
they  may,  if  neglected,  be  the  cause  of  the  cow  slipping  her 
calf.  The  stranguary  is  readily  known  to  exist,  by  the  cow 
making  frequent  attempts  to  stale,  without  being  able  to  void 
any  urine,  or  only  a  small  quantity.  When  it  is  accompanied  by 
costiveness,  which  is  generally  the  case,  and  js  often  the  cause  of 
the  complaint,  the  bowels  must  be  opened  by  a  laxative,  com- 
posed of  a  pound  of  Epsom  salts,  dissolved  in  a  quart  of  gruel ; 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  463 

a  clysier  should  also  be  given,  consisting  of  two  quarts  of  warm 
water,  and  four  ounces  of  linseed  oil.  The  clyster  may  be 
repeated  two  or  three  times  in  the  course  of  two  hours,  should 
it  be  found  necessary.  Should  the  stranguary  continue  after  the 
bowels  have  been  emptied,  give  the  following  drink: 

Spirit  of  nitrous  ether half  an  ounce, 

Camphor,  powdered,       .....  2  drachms. 

Tincture  of  opium,     ......  half  an  ounce, 

Gruel,  in  which  oiie  ounce  of  nitre  has  been  dissolved,  1  pint. 
Mix. 

"Many  cows  have  been  lost,  by  allowing  them  to  be  too  fat 
at  the  time  of  calving:  they  are  then  said  to  die  of  the  milk 
fever,  which,  in  fact,  is  nothing  more  than  inflammation  of  the 
uterus,  or  womb.  It  is  advisable,  therefore,  when  a  cow,  far 
gone  with  calf,  is  in  too  good  condition,  to  reduce  her,  by  chang- 
ing her  pasture,  which  is  preferable  to  bleeding  or  physic ;  but  if 
she  has  approached  too  near  her  time  to  admit  of  this  change 
having  any  effect,  then  bleeding  will  be  proper." 

COWS    AT    CALVING. 

Nature  is,  in  general,  all-sufficient  for  the  purpose  of  producing 
the  young  of  the  various  domestic  animals,  and  consequently, 
little  is  left  for  man  to  do,  except  in  taking  care  that  the  females 
be  placed  in  such  a  situation  that  they  may  not  expose  themselves 
or  their  young  to  injury.  It  is  always  requisite  that  a  cow,  which 
is  near  the  time  of  calving,  should  be  attended  to,  in  order  that 
every  necessary  assistance  may  be  rendered. 

Some  cows,  especially  those  of  the  short-horned  breed,  frequently 
require  particular  assistance.  The  natural  presentation  of  the 
calf  is,  with  its  head  and  fore  feet,  the  nose  between  the  feet,  and 
the  back  upwards.  Downing  enumerates  several  preternatural 
positions,  namely:  First,  reverse  representation,  or  tail  first. 
Second,  fore  feet,  no  head  appearing.  Third,  side  belly  upwards, 
head  reversed  over  one  shoulder,  legs  appearing.  Fourth,  fore 
feet  with  head  under  the  brisket.  Fifth,  head  alone,  or  one 
fore  leg  only  with  it.  Sixth,  head  and  one  leg,  or  head  alone. 
Seventh,  calf  lying  on  its  back,  its  fore  legs  folded  nearly  togeth- 
er, and  close  up  to  the  cow's  back;  the  head  appearing,  or 
doubled  back,  even  with  the  ribs,  on  one  side  or  other;  the  hind 
leg  perhaps  appearing. 


464  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

The  following  general  rules  are  extracted  from  an  excellent 
work  by  Mr.  Lawrence : 

"Timely  assistance  before  the  cow  is  exhausted. 

"Extraction  never  to  be  attempted  in  an  improper  position. 

"Supple  the  hand  and  arm  with  warm  water  and  fresh  lard. 

"Examination  best  made,  the  cow  standing,  and  in  the  inter- 
val of  pains. 

"In  pulling  at  the  feet,  enclose  the  claws  in  the  hand,  that  the 
horn  may  not  bruise  the  cow. 

"Naval  strings  bursting,  and  the  usual  flux  of  blood  of  no 
consequence. 

"Instruments  to  be  used  only  in  the  last  resort,  and  by  an 
experienced  and  steady  person  only. 

"The  proper  hook  is  of  hard  iron,  four  inches  long,  with  a 
loop  for  the  cord  at  the  straight  end. 

"In  a  natural  position,  if  the  cow  should  want  help,  the  posi- 
tion of  the  calf  may  be  ascertained  after  the  waters  have  been 
seen.  A  cord  ought  to  be  in  readiness  to  attach  to  the  fore  legs 
of  the  calf,  in  order  to  assist  each  natural  exertion.  The  head 
to  be  kept  clear  from  obstruction. 

"Preternatural  position.  No.  1.  as  above.  No  attempt  to 
turn  the  calf  (this  position  being  favorable  for  extraction,)  but 
use  expedition,  for  fear  it  be  suffocated.  Press  the  haunches 
back  with  the  palm  of  the  hand,  take  hold  of  the  bend  of  the 
hough  of  one  leg,  pull  at  it,  and  reach  the  foot;  both  feet  may 
thus  be  brought  forth.  No.  2.  Reduce  the  head  to  its  proper 
situation,  between  the  fore  legs,  either  by  hold  of  the  nose,  or 
the  face  bone.  '  A  long  arm  is  needful,  which  must  be  kept  to 
the  full  extent  of  the  body,  that  instant  advantage  may  be  taken 
of  every  throe,  the  fingers  being  properly  fixed.  No.  3.  Gently 
move  the  calf  back,  and  bring  the  head  forth  to  the  legs.  No.  4. 
Push  the  calf  back  to  find  the  head;  pull  at  the  nose:  this 
requires  address,  but  it  is  useless  to  employ  force  till  the  head  be 
in  its  proper  place.  No.  5  and  6.  Push  the  calf  back  against 
the  shoulders  and  brisket :  the  feet  will  be  found  folded  under  the 
belly;  bring  the  feet  forward,  one  at  a  time,  the  hand  being 
gently  placed  on  the  bend  of  the  knee.  Should  the  head  be  too 
much  swelled  and  bruised  to  be  returned,  it  must  be  skinned  and 
amputated.  Dissect  in  a  straight  line  from  the  poll  to  the  nose, 
force  the  skin  back  over  the  first  joint  of  the  neck,  divide  the 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  4G5 

head  from  the  body,  pushing  the  latter  back  to  obtain  hold  of  the 
knees.  The  loose  skin  must  be  previously  wrapped  over  the 
ragged  bone,  and  an  assistant  should  have  fast  hold,  in  order  to 
guide  it  clear  of  the  haunch-bone  of  the  cow;  should  it  hitch 
there,  pull  back  instantly.  No.  7.  If  one  hind  leg  appear,  put 
it  back;  the  calf  cannot  be  brought  forth  with  a  hinder  and  fore 
leg  together,  and  the  difference  between  the  knee  and  hough 
will  be  immediately  discovered.  The  head  being  doubled  back, 
must  of  course  be  reduced  to  its  proper  place.  The  cow  being 
strong  and  quiet,  the  business  may  be  effected  with  care  and 
patience:  and  should  the  hook  be  positively  necessary,  hold 
must  be  taken,  either  in  the  sockets  of  the  eyes,  cavity  of  the 
ears,  or  in  the  jaw.  The  case  of  dropsy  in  the  calf  will  be  suf- 
ficiently apparent  by  its  preternatural  size;  use  the  knife  care- 
fully, should  that  be  necessary,  to  pierce  the  belly  of  the  calf." 

A  recent  author  observes:  "  When  every  other  plan  has  failed 
for  turning  the  calf,  so  as  to  put  it  into  a  favorable  position  for 
delivery,  the  following  has  often  succeeded.  Let  the  cow  be 
thrown  down,  in  a  proper  situation,  and  placed  on  her  back; 
then,  by  means  of  a  rope  and  pully  attached  to  a  beam  above, 
let  the  hind  parts  be  raised  up,  so  as  to  be  considerably  higher 
than  the  fore  parts;  in  this  position,  the  calf  may  be  easily  put 
back  towards  the  bottom  of  the  uterus,  so  as  to  admit  of  being 
turned,  or  his  head  and  fore  legs  brought  forward  without  diffi- 
culty." 

A  very  material  obstruction  frequently  occurs  to  the  calving 
of  cows,  which  is  called  a  horning  of  the  lye  or  calf-bed,  when 
the  passage  of  it  is  contracted  into  such  a  very  small  circumfer- 
ence, as  not  to  admit  the  smallest  hand  at  the  period  of  gesta- 
tion, and  grows  so  sinewy  or  horned,  as  renders  it  quite  impossi- 
ble for  the  cow  to  calve  without  assistance ;  many  cattle  have 
perished  on  account  of  this  dangerous  inconvenience  which 
might  have  easily  been  prevented.  But  so  little  has  been  hith- 
erto known  of  many  of  the  diseases  peculiar  to  cattle,  that  a 
simple  remedy  or  operation  might  have  saved  very  great  num- 
bers which  might  have  fallen  victims  to  an  untimely  death. 

In  the  case  before  observed,  a  late  writer  remarks:  "It  must 
take  a  considerable  time  before  it  is  contracted  as  it  is  often  found; 
but  no  suspicion  or  dread  can  reasonably  take  place,  until  near 
the  time  when  the  beast  has  arrived  at  the  end  of  nine  months, 


4GG  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

her  full  time  of  bearing  young,  when  they  generally  make  a  regu- 
lar preparation,  or  falling  of  the  parts  of  generation,  for  a  few 
days  or  week  before  calving ;  but  in  case  of  this  hornedness  of  the 
calf-bed,  it  is  observed  that  they  are  backward  in  making  these 
necessary  alterations  preparatory  to  the  approaching  change; 
and  when  this  is  noticed,  more  than  usual  observation  ought  to 
be  taken,  for  when  they  do  not  prepare  in  a  regular  manner,  they 
seldom  have  the  efforts  of  nature  in  due  course,  for  the  delivery 
of  their  burden.  But  when  the  beast  is  observed  sick  for  calv- 
ing, and  has  reached  the  end  of  her  time,  and  any  dread  of  this 
is  apprehended,  there  is  no  danger  or  impropriety  in  searching 
with  the  hand,  in  order  to  be  satisfied  whether  that  part  is  open 
or  grown  up,  as  previously  described;  yet  the  greatest  care  is 
necessary  that  the  enquiry  be  made  with  judgment,  and  the  hand 
that  is  introduced  must  be  well  lathered  with  soap  and  water,  or 
greased  with  tallow,  fresh  butter,  or  some  such  thing,  that  will 
not  cause  irritation  in  the  neck  of  the  womb. 

"Now  if  it  be  found  in  the  state  described,  in  any  degree,  and 
a  certainty  of  the  beast  being  at  its  full  time,  with  the  common 
sickness  and  symptoms  for  calving,  no  time  should  be  lost  until 
the  animal  be  relieved.  The  difficulty  greatly  depends  on  know- 
ing to  what  degree  it  is  grown  up;  it  is  sometimes  so  straight  as 
not  to  admit  the  end  of  a  finger;  but  with  some  exertion,  it  may 
give  so  much  way  as  that  a  small  knife  may  be  introduced,  whose 
blade  should  not  be  above  an  inch  and  a  half  in  length,  and  verv 
sharp,  with  a  hollow  on  the  back  part  of  the  point  for  the  end  of 
the  fore  finger,  to  guide  the  knife  when  cutting,  and  to  cover  the 
point  and  edge  when  introduced,  which  must  be  covered  as  much 
as  possible  with  the  hand.  Its  handle  ought  to  be  short,  and 
the  fore  h'nger  of  the  operator  should  always  be  kept  forward  on 
the  knife,  to  prevent  any  danger  that  might  arise  from  the  edge 
of  it.  The  horny  circle  is  sometimes  so  hard  and  gristly,  that  it 
takes  more  exertion  than  may  have  been  expected  from  the 
nature  of  the  place:  but  as  soon  as  it  is  cut  through,  the  beast 
will  find  a  very  material  difference,  and  strive  to  void  her  burthen 
if  possible,  when  every  exertion  of  art  ought  to  be  used  for  her 
relief.  When  the  business  is  happily  over,  the  wounded  parts 
within  must  be  taken  care  of  by  providing  one  pint  of  rectified 
spirits  of  wine,  camphorated,  to  anoint  the  wound,  and  any  other 
part  which  may  have  been  exposed  to  the  air,  bruised,  or  over 
distended.  This  may  be  conveyed  up  the  neck  of  the  womb  by 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  467 

a  syringe,  sponge,  or  linen  rag  filled  with  it,  and  carried  thither 
by  a  small  hand,  well  fomented  with  some  of  the  foregoing  arti- 
cles for  that  purpose.  Let  the  beast  be  kept  moderately  warm, 
and  in  a  comfortable  situation,  allowing  her  at  all  times  a  plenti- 
ful supply  of  good,  dry,  and  sweet  litter." 

This  method  of  management  in  preternatural  contractions  of 
the  passage,  is  recommended  by  Mr.  Rowlin;  but  much  will, 
of  course,  depend,  in  every  case,  on  the  judicious  observations 
of  experienced  judges. 

THE    CLESAREAN    OPERATION, 

.Which  is  that  wherein  it  is  impossible  to  deliver  the  cow  of 
her  calf,  and  save  her  life,  and  thus  lose  cow  and  calf  together, 
is  sometimes  resorted  to  to  save  the  calf,  if  of  great  value.  It  is 
simply  that  of  cutting  open  the  belly  of  the  cow,  and  taking  the 
calf  from  the  womb  while  the  cow  still  lives,  and  immediately 
afterwards  killing  her  as  if  for  common  slaughter.  The  opera- 
tion is  a  most  repulsive,  not  to  say  a  cruel  one,  but  the  pain  is 
short,  and  sometimes  the  operation  valuable  in  results.  We 
have  seen,  in  this  country,  a  valuable  blooded  calf  which  was  so 
saved  at  birth,  but  it  has  only  been  resorted  to  under  the  most 
desperate  circumstances.  Youatt  twice  attempted  a  thing  of 
the  kind,  and  was  unsuccessful  in  saving  the  life  of  either  cow 
or  calf  in  both  cases,  as  he  states  it;  and  he  had  heard  of  only 
one  successful  case  of  the  kind  by  another  surgeon.  Our  own 
flock  master  has  saved  several  lambs  by  that  operation,  where, 
if  neglected,  both  ewe  and  lamb  would  have  been  lost.  The 
ewes  died,  of  course,  but  the  lambs  grew  up  to  fine  healthy  sheep. 
A  case  of  this  kind  with  cows,  seldom  occurs,  and  it  is  only  men- 
tioned here  as  among  the  possibilities. — L.  F.  A. 

SWELLING    OF    THE    UDDER. 

Cows  are  generally  attacked  by  this  complaint  about  the  period 
of  calving,  and  the  swelling  is  sometimes  so  considerable  as  to 
cause  an  abscess  to  form.  Immediately  it  is  perceived,  take  a 
pound  of  Epsom  salts,  dissolved  in  a  quart  of  gruel,  to  which  a 
little  castor  or  linseed  oil  mav  be  added.  The  swollen  udder 


468  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

should  be  often  fomented  with  a  decoction  of  mallows,  elder,  or 
hemlock,  by  means  of  large  woolen  cloths  dipped  in  the  hot 
decoction,  and,  after  wringing,  applied  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
cover  the  whole  udder;  this  process  should  be  continued  for  a 
considerable  time,  and  repeated  several  times  each  day.*  After 
the  inflammation  has  been  removed,  a  slight  degree  of  hard 
swelling  may  remain ;  this,  however,  is  not  painful :  and  the  fol- 
lowing liniment  rubbed  on  the  part  once  or  twice  a  day,  will 
soon  disperse  it: 

Liquor  of  ammonia,         .....    half  an  ounce, 

Linseed  oil,      ......  4  ounces  and  a  half, 

Oil  of  turpentine,  .  .  .  .  .1  ounce. 

Mixed. 

Inflammation  of  the  udder  will  sometimes  happen  in  conse- 
quence of  the  animal  receiving  cold;  in  this  case,  the  coat  stares, 
the  appetite  is  diminished,  the  breathing  is  quickened,  and  some 
degree  of  fever  is  apparent.  The  following  warm  laxative  may 
afterwards  be  applied: 

Common  salt,              .           .           .           .           .  .    6  to  8  ounces, 

Flour  of  mustard,            .....  1  ounce, 

Oil,  or  lard,       .           .           .           .           .           .  .6  ounces, 

Whey,  or  water,  ......  1  quart. 

Mixed. 

The  animal  should  not  be  exposed  to  the  weather,  but  fed 
with  warm  mashes  of  bran  or  meal;  and  an  ounce  of  nitre  may 
be  put  into  her  water  morning  and  evening. 

CHAPS,    OR    SORE    TEATS. 

It  occasionally  occurs  that  the  udders  of  cows  are  chafed  by 
rubbing  against  their  thighs  when  they  are  cat-hammed  and 
go  close  behind ;  in  consequence  of  which,  both  the  udder  and 
thighs  of  the  cow  are  frequently  raw  and  ulcerated.  Warm 
water  and  soap  applied  to  the  parts,  will  be  found  an  excellent 
remedy ;  afterwards  they  may  often  be  bathed  with  lard  or  cream, 
and  camphorated  spirits  mixed. 

On  account  of  due  cleanliness  not  being  exercised  by  the  milk- 
ers, the  teats  of  cows  are  frequently  chapped.  A  similar  treat- 
ment as  the  above  will  also  prove  salutary  in  this  case.  But 
should  they  be  very  sore,  a  little  laudanum  may  be  first  applied 
to  the  cracks,  and  they  may  be  afterwards  filled  up  with  fine 
powdered  chalk. 

*  See  water  treatment  of  garget,  page  436. — L.  F.  A. 


DISEASES    AXD    REMEDIES.  469 

When  a  slight  inflammation  of  the  udder  occurs,  and  matter 
is  collected,  the  lowest  part  containing  the  matter  should  be 
opened,  in  order  that  the  matter  may  run  off  freely.  After  this 
has  been  performed,  the  part  should  be  syringed  with  warm 
water,  and  kept  clean,  and  no  matter  allowed  to  lodge  in  the 
cavity.  An  opening  may  be  made  in  the  side  of  the  teat,  a  lit- 
tle above  its  extremity,  for  the  purpose  of  quitting  the  matter 
entirely,  or  in  the  orifice  through  which  the  milk  is  squeezed  out. 
Should  it  not  heal  sufficiently  quick,  a  mixture  of  spirit  and 
water,  or  a  solution  of  white  vitriol,  may  be  injected. 

GRIPES,  OR    COLIC. 

Causes. — Though  this  disorder  will  sometimes  occur  when  the 
bowels  are  in  a  regular  state,  it  is  commonly  produced  by  cos- 
tiveness,  or  a  retention  of  food  in  the  third  stomach.  Those  cows 
that  are  kept  entirely  on  dry  food,  or  fed  upon  grains,  are  most 
subject  to  this  complaint.  The  flatulent  colic  comes  on  rather 
suddenly,  when  it  is  occasioned  by  feeding  greedily  upon  fresh, 
succulent  grass,  or  by  drinking  too  much  cold  water  when  over- 
heated; but  the  attack  is  generally  more  gradual  when  it  is 
caused  by  costiveness. 

Symptoms. — Young  cattle  are  most  liable  to  the  colic.  Its 
first  appearance  is  denoted  by  the  peculiar  restlessness  of  the 
animal,  which  will  frequently  lie  down  a«d  groan,  or  strike  with 
the  hind  feet  or  horns  against  the  belly.  The  body  is  also  swollen, 
which  is  particularly  apparent  ou  the  left  side,  but  the  pulse  is 
usually  in  its  natural  state.  The  pain  becomes  more  violent  if 
proper  remedies  are  not  soon  applied ;  and  ultimately  inflamma- 
tion will  ensue ;  in  which  case  the  pulse  becomes  exceedingly 
quick,  and  the  horns,  ears  and  feet,  cold ;  when  this  occurs,  the 
disease  generally  has  a  fatal  termination. 

Cure. — Purging  medicines,  combined  with  aromatics  or  stimu- 
lants, are  the  most  essential  remedy,  when  the  colic  originates  in 
costiveness.  The  following  will  be  found  an  excellent  medicine 
for  this  purpose : 

Powdered  ginger,         ......  half  an  ounce, 

Barbadoes  aloes,    .  ....  half  an  ounce, 

Carbonate  of  potash,    ......  3  drachms. 

Linseed  oil,  ......  8  ounces, 

Oil  of  turpentine,          .  .  .  .  .  .1  ounce, 

Water,        .......  1  pint. 

Mixed  for  one  dose. 


470  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

If  the  above  medicine  cannot  speedily  be  procured,  the  fol- 
lowing may  be  substituted  for  it : 

Flour  of  mustard,         .  .  .  .  .  .1  ounoe. 

Common  salt,         ......  half  a  pound. 

Linseed  oil,  sweet  oil,  or  any  oil  that  is  not  very  rancid,  or 
even  hog's  lard,         ......    half  a  pound, 

Water,         .......  1  quart. 

A  glass  of  spirits  may  be  added  to  the  above. 

Should  the  animal  be  in  good  condition,  or  the  inner  surface 
of  the  eyelid  appear  unusually  red,  she  should  be  copiously  bled  ; 
but  should  the  complaint  be  attended  with  looseness,  or  the  bow- 
els be  in  an  irregular  state,  especially  if  the  inner  surface  of  the 
eyelid  be  pale,  and  the  animal  appears  somewhat  weak,  no  blood 
should  be  taken,  but  the  following  carminative  drink  may  be 
given  : 

Tincture  of  opium.          .  .  .  .  .  .6  drachms, 

Spirit  of  nitrous  ether,         .....  2  ounces, 

Oil  of  turpentine,  .  .  .  .  .  .1  ounce, 

Water,  .......  1  pint. 

Mixed  for  1  dose. 

Should  the  purging  drink  be  found  necessary,  clysters  may  be 
applied  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  its  operation.  When  the 
colic  is  produced  by  feeding  greedily  upon  grains,  or  any  other 
kind  of  food,  the  cow  must  be  fed  cautiously  for  several  days 
after,  and  have  the  following  stomachic  drink  administered  once  or 
twice  a  day,  in  order  that  the  tone  or  energy  of  the  stomach  may 
be  restored: 

Carbonate  of  ammonia,    .  .  .  .  .  .2  drachms, 

Powdered  gentian,    ......  1  ounce, 

Powder  ginger,     .......    half  an  ounce, 

Infusion  of  camomile  flowers,         ....  1  pint. 

•    Mixed  for  one  dose. 

When  the  colic  is  caused  by  costiveness,  or  feeding  upon  dry 
food,  the  state  of  the  bowels  should  be  attended  to,  as  soon  as 
the  animal  has  been  relieved  by  the  operation  of  the  purgative 
drink.  Should  the  animal  not  have  a  change  of  diet,  some  salt 
must  be  mixed  with  the  food;  or,  if  the  animal  will  riot  eat  it, 
she  should  be  drenched  with  three  or  four  ounces  of  salt,  dis- 
solved in  water,  daily,  in  order  that  her  bowels  may  be  slightly 
opened,  and  her  appetite  for  water  increased. 

[NOTE. — This  disorder  is  probably  the  equivalent  to  colic 
in  horses.  An  intelligent  physician  assured  us  that  he  had  cured 
several  horses  of  violent  attacks,  by  simply  giving  them  a  dose 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  471 

of  powdered  charcoal  and  fine  salt — say  half  a  pint  of  salt  to 
three  gills  of  coal,  diluted  with  lard,  or  butter  mixed,  or  even 
in  water,  so  that  the  animal  could  swallow  it.  Why  may  it  not 
be  equally  efficacious  with  cattle? — L.  F.  A.] 


Various  causes  may  contribute  to  occasion  a  difficulty  of  swal- 
lowing ;  either  from  the  morsel  attempted  to  be  swallowed  being 
too  large,  or  from  the  unusual  narrowness  of  the  gullet.  The 
former  frequently  occurs  to  cattle  that  are  fed  upon  turnips  or 
potatoes ;  and  the  choking  thus  produced  is  so  dangerous  as  to 
cause  the  animal's  death,  if  the  obstruction  is  not  speedily 
removed.* 

Mr.  Alexander,  an  ingenious  farmer  in  Tweeddale,  invented 
a  very  useful  instrument  for  the  purpose  of  removing  the  obstruc- 
tion. It  is  described  as  follows: 

"Take  three  small  canes,  (rattan  or  whalebone,)  of  the  thick- 
ness of  the  little  finger,  or  thereabouts,  of  the  length  of  five  feet 
and  a  half,  that  they  may  reach  down  the  throat,  and  into  the 
stomach  of  the  largest  ox.  These  canes  are  to  be  bound  together 
by  strong  smooth  twine  rolled  tightly  about  them,  (the  circles  of 
twine  touching  each  other,)  from  top  to  bottom.  Beeswax  is 
then  to  be  rubbed  along  the  twine,  to  fill  up  any  inequalities,  and 
the  whole  rod  is  to  be  well  oiled  before  it  is  used.  There  is  a 
round  knob  at  each  end ;  the  larger,  two  inches  and  a  half  in 
diameter  for  larger  cattle,  the  other  less  for  lesser  cattle.  These 
knobs  are  formed  of  the  twine  rolled  hard,  and  when  formed, 
may  be  strengthened  in  their  position,  by  being  sewed  by  means 
of  a  shoemaker's  awl,  and  a  waxed  bristled  thread,  such  as  they 
employ.  The  thread  knobs  are  made  tapering  up  the  canes 
from  their  broad  extremity;  but  it  must  be  remarked,  that  the 
surface  of  this  extremity  is  not  rounded  like  a  clue,  but  hollowed 
into  the  form  of  a  cup.  The  intention  of  this  hollowed  form  is, 
to  make  certain  of  catching  hold  of  the  obstructing  body ;  as,  if 
the  knob  was  round,  it  might  pass  by  it.  After  the  knobs  are 
formed,  they  are  covered  with  soft  leather,  which,  by  its  flexi- 
bility, will  adapt  itself  to  the  hollow  end  of  the  knob  as  soon  as 

*  The  better  way  is  to  avoid  any  such  choking  by  always  cutting  the  roots,  or 
apples  fed  to  the  cattle,  in  email  pieces.— L.  F.  A. 


472  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

it  reaches  an  obstacle.  The  knobs  must  be  securely  fixed  to  the 
canes,  for  if  they  fall  off,  they  leave  an  indigestible  substance  in 
the  stomach."  The  above  constitutes  Mr.  Alexander's  probang, 
the  only  obvious  improvement  on  which,  says  a  recent  writer, 
"is  to  make  the  knobs  of  sponge,  firmly  fastened  to  the  canes, 
by  passing  twine  through  holes  bored  in  them,  and  adding  to 
each  end  two  or  three  bights  of  twine,  for  the  purpose  of  catch- 
ing hold  of  any  obstacle,  thus  making  the  instrument  almost 
exactly  like  a  surgeon's  probang.  The  sponge  is  preferable  to 
the  twine,  as  it  will  not  be  liable  to  injure  the  animal's  throat  by 
its  hardness,  will  adapt  itself  more  readily  to  any  form  of  the 
obstacle,  and  may  be  more  firmly  fixed  in  the  canes." 

[NOTE. — A  piece  of  grape  vine,  nearly  an  inch  in  diameter,  or 
pliable  tough  willow,  may  answer,  of  the  size  of  the  three  small 
canes  above  mentioned. — L.  F.  A.] 

PUERPERAL,   OR    MILK    FEVER. 

Causes. — This  is  a  disease  peculiar  to  cows  in  high  condition 
at  the  time  of  calving;  whether  young  or  old,  all  are  liable  to 
be  attacked  with  it.  Whenever  it  takes  place,  either  at  home 
or  in  the  field,  it  is  distressing  to  the  animal,  as  well  as  trouble- 
some to  the  owner  :  they  seldom  are  able  to  rise  in  less  than  two 
or  three  days  after.  The  puerperal,  or  milk  fever,  is  most  fre- 
quent during  the  hot  weather  of  summer.  The  cows  most  liable 
to  be  attacked  with  this  fever,  have  large  udders  that  are  full 
of  milk  for  several  days  before  calving,  and  often  very  much 
inflamed  and  swelled.  It  is  a  very  dangerous  disease  when 
severe,  and  often  proves  fatal  even  under  the  most  judicious 
treatment.  The  milk  fever  most  commonly  attacks  the  cow 
about  the  second  or  third  day  after  calving.  We  have  remarked 
above,  that  those  cows  which  are  in  high  condition  at  the  time 
of  calving,  are  the  most  subject  to  this  complaint;  however,  it 
sometimes  attacks  lean  cows,  especially  if  they  are  deep  milkers. 
"We  conceive  its  immediate  cause  to  be  an  inflammatory  state  of 
the  udder,  which  is  frequently  induced  by  the  animal  taking 
cold,  and  from  a  redundancy  of  blood  in  the  system.  About  the 
second  or  third  day  after  calving,  a  much  greater  quantity  of 
blood  than  usual  is  determined  to  the  udder  for  the  purpose  of 
the  secretion  of  milk,  but  when  the  udder  is  inflamed,  this  act 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  473 

does  not  take  place,  and  the  blood  is  in  consequence  transferred 
to  some  other  part  or  parts,  as  the  peritoneum,  the  bowels,  kid- 
neys, &c.,  which  deranges  the  whole  animal  frame  and  produces 
the  milk  fever. 

Symptoms. — This  disease  is  first  perceived  by  the  animal 
refraining  from  food,  and  looking  dull  and  heavy.  A  cold  shiver- 
ing fit  comes  on,  accompanied  with  so  much  debility  that  the 
beast  commonly  drops,  and  is  unable  to  rise,  until  she  obtains 
some  relief  from  medicine.  The  animal  becomes  very  restless, 
and  appears  to  experience  great  pain  in  the  body,  as  she  often 
looks  towards  the  flanks,  and  kicks  with  her  feet,  and  seems 
very  much  distressed.  The  head,  as  the  disease  proceeds,  is  in 
general  so  severely  affected  that  the  cow  loses  her  senses,  and 
will  knock  and  bruise  her  head  against  anything,  and  do  herself 
much  injury,  if  great  care  is  not  taken.  The  pulse  is  quick, 
being  about  seventy  in  a  minute;  and  the  tongue  parching  dry. 
The  bowels  are  costive;  there  is  no  secretion  of  milk;  and  the 
slimy  discharge  from  the  barren  ceases.  As  the  disease  advances, 
the  belly  becomes  enlarged;  if  purging  medicines  lessen  the 
swelling  of  the  body,  it  is  a  good  sign;  but  if  they  are  made 
use  of,  and  the  belly  still  increases  in  size,  there  are  little  hopes 
of  her  recovery. 

Care. — If  the  feverish  symptoms  run  high,  attended  with  much 
pain,  it  will  be  proper  to  take  three  or  four  quarts  of  blood.*  A 
purging  drink  should  always  be  administered  as  early  as  possible. 
The  following  is  highly  recommended  by  some  practitioners: 

Nitre,      .........    2  ounces, 

Ginger,  powdered,         ......  1  ounce, 

Epsom  salts,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .1  pound, 

Aniseeds,  powdered,     ......  1  ounce, 

Treacle,  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .4  ounces. 

Pour  three  pints  of  boiling  water  upon  the  ingredients,  and  let  them  be  given, 
when  new  milk  warm. 

This  drink  must  be  repeated  in  the  space  of  eighteen  or  twenty 
hours,  if  it  does  not  operate  before  that  time.  If  the  bowels  are 
moved  with  difficulty,  the  following  clyster  may  be  injected — 
having  racked  the  animal  previously: 

Common  salt,     .  ...  .  .  .  .    half  a  pound, 

Treacle,         .......  4  ounces, 

Spirits  of  turpentine,    ......    half  a  pint, 

Thin  gruel,  .......  3  quarts. 

Mixed,  and  when  new  milk  warm,  it  must  be  injected  or  forced  up  the  anus. 

*  See  this  disease,  pages  137-8.— L.  F.  A. 


474  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

This  clyster  will  promote  the  evacuation  of  faeces,  and  tend  to 
remove  the  swelling  of  the  belly. 

"When  the  bowels  have  been  opened,  and  the  animal  still 
appears  low  and  unable  to  rise,  it  will  be  requisite  that  the  fol- 
lowing cordial  drink  should  be  administered: 

Salt  of  tartar, half  an  ounce, 

OH  of  turpentine, ......  1  ounce, 

Ginger,  powdered, half  an  ounce, 

Flour  of  mustard,  .....  2  ounces, 

Grains  of  paradise,  powdered,         ....    half  an  ounce. 

Treacle,       .......  4  table  spoonfuls, 

Caraway  seeds,  powdered,     .  .  .  .  .2  ounces, 

Aniseeds,  powdered,        .....  2  ounces. 

Mixed  and  given  in  a  quart  of  warm  gruel,  to  which  may  be  added  a  wine-glass  of 
gin  or  brandy. 

This  drink  will  tend  to  invigorate  the  system,  and  promote  the 
secretion  of  milk.  It  may  be  repeated  once  a  day,  or  every 
other  day,  for  three  or  four  times.  Should  the  bowels  be  inclined 
to  be  bound  any  time  during  the  complaint,  recourse  to  a  purging 
drink  should  be  had  immediately. 

Cows  afflicted  with  the  milk  fever  should  be  taken  great  care  of, 
and  be  well  nursed.  It  is  requisite  that  the  stall  where  they  lie 
should  be  well  littered ;  and  it  is  frequently  necessary  that,  when 
they  are  cold  and  shivering,  they  should  be  covered  with  a  blanket 
or  some  other  warm  clothing.  To  assist  in  subduing  the  inflam- 
mation of  the  udder,  it  should  be  rubbed  two  or  three  times  a 
day,  about  half  an  hour  each  time,  with  soft  soap,  or  pipe-clay, 
and  cold  spring  water. 

To  solicit  the  flow  of  milk,  the  paps  should  be  drawn  occasion- 
ally ;  it  is  a  good  sign  when  the  milk  begins  to  be  secreted.  As 
they  are  frequently  unable  to  take  a  sufficient  quantity  of  sup- 
port themselves,  it  becomes  necessary  to  horn  some  nutritious 
food  into  them.  Good  gruel  is  well  adapted  for  this  purpose, 
and  two  or  three  quarts  should  be  given  three  or  four  times  a 
day.  Linseed  porridge,  sweetened  with  treacle,  is  also  proper  to 
be  given  at  this  time.  The  beast  must  be  constantly  attended 
to  when  the  head  is  much  affected,  otherwise  she  may  do  herself 
some  serious  injury. 

THE    GAD-FLY. 

The  gad-fly  is  an  insect  which  is  very  troublesome  to  cattle. 
Mr.  Bracey  Clarke  has  accurately  described  the  various  species  of 
these  insects,  and  their  effects.  The  species  called  Oe  bovis,  chieHy 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES  475 

attacks  cattle,  through  the  skins  of  which  it  pierces,  to  deposit 
its  eggs.  The  pain  which  it  inflicts,  in  depositing  its  eggs,  appears 
to  be  much  more  severe  than  what  is  excited  by  any  of  the  other 
species.  When  one  of  the  cattle  is  attacked  by  this  fly,  it  is 
easily  known  by  the  extreme  terror  and  agitation  that  seizes  the 
whole  herd.  The  unfortunate  object  of  attack  runs  bellowing 
from  among  his  fellows,  to  some  distant  part  of  the  pasture,  or 
to  the  nearest  water,  holding  his  tail,  from  the  severity  of  the 
pain,  extended  straight  from  the  body,  in  a  line  with  his  back, 
with  a  tremulous  motion,  and  stretching  out  his  head  and  neck 
to  the  utmost.  The  rest  of  the  herd,  infected  with  the  like  fear, ' 
though  not  attacked,  fly  also  to  the  water,  or  disperse  to  the 
different  parts  of  the  pasture.  "Such  is  the  dread  and  appre- 
hension in  the  cattle,  for  this  fly,"  says  Mr.  Clarke,  "that  I  have 
seen  one  of  them  meet  the  herd,  when  almost  driven  home,  and 
turn  them  back,  regardless  of  the  stones,  sticks,  and  noise  of  the 
drivers;  nor  could  they  be  stopped  till  they  reached  their  accus- 
tomed retreat  in  the  water." 

Should  one  of  these  flies  happen  to  attack  oxen  that  are 
attached  to  the  plow,  there  is  frequently  considerable  danger, 
since  the  animal  becomes  quite  ungovernable,  often  rushing 
directW  forward  with  the  plow,  through  hedges,  or  whatever 
opposes  his  career. 

Steers,  heifers,  and  the  younger  cattle,  are  most  commonly 
attacked  by  this  fly;  the  strongest  and  most  healthy  beasts  are 
generally  selected  by  it;  thus  furnishing  a  very  estimable  crite- 
rion of  goodness  to  the  dealers  in  cattle.  Tanners  also  have 
frequently  observed,  that  their  strongest  and  best  hides  have 
usually  the  greatest  number  of  holes  in  them. 

The  larvae  of  the  Oe  bovis  are  generally  distinguished  among 
country  people  by  the  various  names  of  wormuls,  war-mils,  or 
warbles. 

The  larvae,  or  the  Oe  equi  are  commonly  termed  bots,  and  the 
puncture  they  make,  called  puckeridge,  is  often  attributed  to  the 
bite  of  the  goat-sucker.  In  order  to  accomplish  the  destruction 
of  the  larvae  thus  deposited,  some  recommend  the  parts  to  be 
pressed,  and  afterwards  well  rubbed  with  a  little  oil  of  turpen- 
tine, or  some  other  stimulating  application,  or  the  injection  of  a 
little  oil  of  turpentine  into  each  hole. 

The  following  is  the  usual  remedy  for  cattle  bitten  by  these 
insects : 


476  AMERICAN    CATTLK. 

Tar,     .........    2  ounces, 

Hog's  lard,         .......  4  ounces. 

Melted  together  and  applied  to  the  bitten  parts. 

[NOTE. — These  pests  are  not  much  known  in  America.  We 
have,  however,  seen  instances  of  them.  They  are  oftentimes 
very  troublesome  to  cattle  in  England.  "When  in  the  larvce  state, 
they  are  readily  found  by  running  the  hand  along  the  back  of 
the  animal,  and  may  be  pushed  out  of  the  little  puncture  through 
the  skin,  under  which  they  live,  by  a  sharp  pressure  of  the  two 
thumb-nails,  as  one  would  squeeze  a  pimple,  or  other  gathering 
near  the  surface. — L.  F.  A.] 


Those  cattle  are  most  subject  to  lice,  which  through  bad  keep 
and  poverty,  are  reduced  to  a  low  state,  so  that  Nature  is  unable 
to  cast  off  her  old  coat,  and  consequently  an  extra  harbor  is  left 
for  the  vermin  to  accumulate  in.  The  best  method  of  destroy 
ing  those  vermin,  is  by  rubbing  their  hides  with  an  ointment 
composed  of  cayenne  pepper,  or  Scotch  snuff,  mixed  up  with 
hog's  lard. 

[NOTE. — The  easiest,  and  quite  an  effective  remedy,  is  found 
in  any  kind  of  oil,  or  soft  grease,  mixed  with  Scotch  snuff — or 
even  the  oil,  or  grease  alone — well  rubbed  in.  This  is  our  com- 
mon practice,  and  always  a  cure.  Calves  particularly,  should 
be  watched  after  weaning,  and  during  their  first  winter,  as  they 
are  quite  apt  to  get  lousy.  Indeed,  all  cattle  should  be  closely 
watched  for  these  vermin,  as  before  one  is  aware  of  it  they  may 
infest  an  entire  herd,  even  if  in  good  flesh.  Poverty  of  condi- 
tion is  not  always  the  source  of  lice  in  cattle.  We  have  seen 
mercurial  ointments  recommended  for  killing  lice.  They  are 
nearly  as  dangerous  to  the  creature  infested,  as  to  the  lice.  We 
have  known  valuable  animals  to  die  from  the  use  of  such  oint- 
ments.— L.  F.  A.] 

FOG    SICKXESS. 

This  is  a  common  disease  amongst  neat  cattle,  and  is  attended 
with  symptoms  of  the  most  distressing  nature.  It  requires  speedy 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  477 

relief,  or  the  animal  will  be  suffocated  from  the  confined  air  in 
the  two  first  stomachs,  or  a  rupture  of  them  takes  place,  which 
soon  terminates  the  life  of  the  beast.  Hoven  usually  proceeds 
from  a  voracious  and  greedy  disposition,  incident  to  cattle  when 
permitted  to  satiate  their  appetite  with  food  of  which  they  are 
most  fond;  such  as  vetches,  rich  fog,  red  clover,  or  different  kinds 
of  grasses;  also  potatoes,  turnips,  corn,  and  sometimes  chaff. 

Causes. — The  immediate  causes  of  this  disease  is  a  preternatu- 
ral distension  of  the  two  first  stomachs  from  confined  air.  It  is, 
as  before  mentioned,  in  general,  occasioned  by  the  animal  feeding 
for  a  considerable  time  upon  rich,  succulent  food,  so  that  the  first 
stomach,  or  paunch,  becomes  overcharged,  and  they,  through 
their  greediness  to  eat,  forget  to  lie  down  to  ruminate  or  chew 
their  cud.  A  fermentation  of  the  food  in  the  paunch  takes  place, 
and  a  considerable  quantity  of  air  ia  consequently  generated, 
which  so  distends  the  first  two  stomachs,  that  by  their  pressing 
against  the  skirt  or  midriff,  the  capacity  of  the  lungs  for  air  is 
diminished,  which  causes  the  difficulty  of  breathing,  and  suffoca- 
tion is  sometimes  produced.  This  complaint  may  be  occasioned 
by  turning  cattle  into  fresh  aftermath  pastures,  in  autumn;  at 
which  time  the  grass  is  changed  in  quality,  and  the  weather  fre- 
quently wet  or  foggy,  and  then  is  called  fog  sickness. 

Symptoms. — This  complaint  is  well  known  to  most  cattle 
keepers.  The  wind  generated  in  the  stomach  causes  the  beast 
to  swell,  and  a  difficulty  of  breathing  produced,  with  much 
apparent  Distress.  If  relief  is  not  soon  obtained,  the  difficulty 
of  breathing  increases,  and  the  animal  is  unable  to  stand,  and 
generally  dies  suffocated. 

Cure. — When  the  beast  is  hoven  or  blown  by  eating  too  much 
succulent  grass,  Mr.  Clater  recommends  the  following,  as  effica- 
cious in  checking  the  fermentation  in  the  first  stomach : 

Salt  of  tartar,           .          .          .          .           .          .  .3  ounces, 

Epsom  salts,        .......  1  pound, 

Ginger,  powdered,    .           .           .           .           .           .  .2  ounces, 

Aniseeds,  powdered,    ......  2  ounces. 

These  ingredients  may  be  placed  in  a  pitcher,  and  three  quarts 
of  boiling  water  poured  upon  them.  When  they  are  new  milk 
warm,  add  a  wine  glassful  of  gin  and  give  the  whole  for  one 
drink. 

Dr.  Monro,  Sr.,  of  Edinburgh,  in  the  year  1793,  contrived 
an  elastic  tube,  that  might  be  introduced  down  the  throat  into 


478  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

the  stomach  of  the  animal,  and  thus  speedily  and  effectually 
evacuate  the  air.  The  tube  is  to  be  composed  of  iron  wire,  as 
large  as  a  common  stocking  wire,  or  about  one-sixteenth  part  of 
an  inch  in  diameter,  twisted  round  a  smooth  iron  rod,  three- 
eighths  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  in  order  to  give  it  a  cylindrical 
form ;  and  after  taking  off  the  rod,  it  is  to  be  covered  with  smooth 
leather. 

To  the  end  of  the  tube  which  is  intended  to  be  passed  into 
the  stomach,  a  brass  pipe,  two  inches  long,  of  the  same  size  as 
the  tube,  and  pierced  with  a  number  of  large  holes,  must  be 
firmly  connected. 

In  order  that  the  tube  may  be  prevented  from  bending  too 
much  within  the  gullet,  at  the  time  of  passing  it  down  into  the 
stomach,  an  iron  wire,  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  and  of 
the  same  length  as  the  tube,  is  put  within  it,  which  is  to  be  with- 
drawn when  the  tube  has  entered  the  stomach. 

He  has  ascertained  that  the  space  from  the  fore  teeth  of  the 
under  jaw,  to  the  bottom  of  the  first  stomach  of  a  large  ox, 
measures  about  six  feet,  and  he  has  passed  such  a  tube,  five  feet 
and  nine  inches  long,  into  the  gullet  and  stomach  of  a  living  ox. 
The  tube  ought  therefore  to  be  six  feet  in  length,  or  rather 
longer,  that  it  may  be  sure  of  answering  in  the  largest  ox. 

After  the  tube  has  passed  into  the  stomach,  it  may  be  allowed 
to  remain  for  any  length  of  time ;  as  when  it  is  pressed  to  one 
side  of  the  throat,  it  does  not  intercept  the  breathing  of  the  ani- 
mal. The  greatest  part  of  the  elastic  and  condensed^fixed  air 
will  be  readily  discharged  through  the  tube ;  and  if  it  be  thought 
necessary,  the  remainder  of  it,  or  the  superfluous  drink,  may  be 
sucked  out  by  a  bellows  fixed  to  the  upper  end  of  the  tube,  with 
two  valves,  one  at  its  muzzle,  and  the  other  at  the  side  of  it,  so 
disposed  as  to  allow  the  air  to  pass  in  the  direction  from  the 
stomach  upwards. 

By  means  of  such  a  tube,  the  air  is  not  only  more  certainly 
discharged  than  by  stabbing  the  animal,  but  the  dangers  avoided 
which  are  occasioned  by  stabbing,  not  so  much  by  the  irritation 
which  the  wound  creates,  as  that  the  air,  and  the  other  contents 
of  the  stomach,  getting  into  the  cavity  of  the  belly,  between  the 
containing  parts  and  the  bowels,  excite  such  a  degree  of  inflam- 
mation as  frequently  proves  fatal  to  the  animal.  This  tube  will 
also  be  found  useful  for  the  purpose  of  introducing  into  the  stom- 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  479 

ach,  stimulating  medicines,  when  the  contraction  at  the  upper 
orifice  would  prevent  their  being  given  without  some  similar 
contrivance. 

Mr.  Blaine  has  somewhat  improved  this  mode  of  relief,  by  the 
invention  of  an  instrument,  for  which  he  was  rewarded  by  the 
London  Society  for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  with  fifty 
guineas.  This  is  simply  a  cane,  six  feet  in  length,  and  consider- 
able diameter,  for  oxen,  to  which  a  knob  of  wood  is  affixed  at 
the  end,  to  be  introduced  into  the  stomach.  He  also  invented  a 
contrivance  for  sheep,  which  is  considerably  smaller,  and  only 
three  feet  in  length.  This  instrument  is  much  preferable  on 
account  of  its  simplicity,  and  is  found  to  occasion  the  evacuation 
of  the  air  as  effectual  as  the  other.  In  cases  of  emergency,  the 
flexible  part  of  a  common  cart  whip  might,  no  doubt,  answer  the 
purpose,  if  applied  by  a  judicious  hand. 

In  performing  this  operation,  an  assistant  is  to  lay  hold  of  the 
cow's  horns  with  one  hand,  and  the  part  which  divides  the  nos- 
trils with  the  other.  The  operator  is  to  take  the  tongue  in  the 
left  hand,  and  with  his  right  he  is  to  force  the  instrument  down 
the  gullet.  A  great  quantity  of  air  will  rush  out  as  soon  as  it 
enters  the  paunch.  The  instrument  may  remain  in  the  stomach 
until  the  air  is  fully  evacuated,  without  injuring  the  animal. 

Any  person  unaccustomed  to  handle  cattle  would  feel  some 
difficulty  in  using  the  above  instruments,  but  if  the  part  which 
divides  the  nostrils  be  grasped  firmly  with  the  right  hand,  and 
the  horn  be  held  firmly  with  the  left,  the  cow  will,  in  general, 
submit  quietly  to  the  operator. 

As  soon  as  the  animal  has  obtained  some  relief  by  these 
means,  the  following  drink  may  be  given : 

Spirit  of  nitrous  tther,          .          .          .          .          .2  ounces, 

Oil  of  peppermint,  .....  30  drops, 

Powdered  ginger,        ......    half  an  ounce, 

Warm  water,        ......          1  pint. 

Mixed  for  one  dose. 

Or, 

Ginger,       ........  2  drachms, 

Powdered  caraways,  .....  1  ounce, 

Warm  ale,  ........  1  pint. 

Well  mixed  together. 

An  infusion  of  camomile  flowers,  or  ginger,  is  likewise  a  good 
stomachic  in  such  cases;  and  it  might  probably  be  much  im- 
proved by  infusing  the  ingredients  in  hot  ale  instead  of  water. 


480  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

When  cattle  have  experienced  a  severe  attack  of  this  disease, 
the  stomach  is  usually  much  weakened  by  it ;  and,  consequently 
great  care  is  requisite  to  prevent  a  return  of  the  complaint :  they 
should  be  fed  rather  sparingly,  or  not  be  permitted  to  eat  much 
at  one  time  for  some  days  after.  One  of  the  above  drenches 
maybe  administered  every  morning  and  evening  for  three  or  four 
days. 

LOSS    OF    THE    CUD. 

Causes. — Though  this  disease  usually  arises  from  over-feeding 
in  rich,  succulent  pastures;  it  is,  however,  sometimes  owing  to 
the  diseased  state  of  the  liver. 

Symptoms. — In  the  early  stages  of  this  complaint,  the  animal 
appears  dull  and  languid,  and  generally  has  a  tight  skin,  and  a 
rough  unhealthy  coat.  As  the  disease  advances,  the  appetite  is 
diminished,  and  ultimately  Tie  ceases  to  chew  the  cud.  The  eyes 
and  mouth  usually  appear  yellow. 

Cure. — When  the  liver  has  become  much  affected,  the  disease 
commonly  terminates  fatally;  a  cure  should,  therefore,  be  at- 
tempted at  an  early  period.  If  there  be  any  appearance  of  cos- 
tiveness,  the  following  warm  laxative  should  be  first  given: 

Castile  soap,     .  .  .  .  .  .  .6  drachms, 

Ginger,       .......  3  drachms, 

Barbadoes  aloes,      .....  .    half  an  ounce, 

Cascarilla  bark,    ......  2  drachms, 

Warm  water,    .  .  .  .  .  .  .    1  pint. 

Mixed. 

The  bowels,  however,  are  generally  in  a  loose  state,  and  the 
dung  has  an  unhealthy  appearance.  When  this  is  the  case,  give 
the  following  tonic  drench,  morning  and  evening,  and  let  the 
animal  be  kept  warm : 

Carbonate  of  soda,           .          .          .          .          .  .2  drachms, 

Ginger,            .......  3  drachms, 

Cascarilla  bark,     .           .           .           .           .           .  .3  drachms. 

To  be  given  in  a  pint  of  ale. 

THE   JAUNDICE,   OB    YELLOWS. 

Causes. — It  generally  arises  from  a  debilitated  state  of  the 
stomach,  which  being  distended  with  food,  from  slow  and  difficult 
digestion,  particularly  the  manyfold,  press  upon  the  bile  ducts, 
and  prevent  the  bile  flowing  into  the  intestines.  The  bile  being 
thus  obstructed,  is  taken  up  by  the  lymphatic  absorbents,  and 
conveyed  into  the  circulating  mass  of  blood,  and  gets  diffused 


DISEASES    AXD    REMEDIES.  481 

throughout  the  body.  Milk  cows  are  the  most  subject  to  it  in 
the  spring,  and  the  latter  end  of  the  year,  yet  they  are  not 
exempt  from  it  at  any  other  time.  The  fluctuating  state  of  the 
weather  appears  frequently  to  give  rise  to  this  complaint ;  when 
the  weather  is  very  changeable,  and  they  appear  not  well,  great 
care  should  be  taken  to  place  them  within  doors. 

Symptoms. — This  disease  is  first  apparent  in  the  whites  of  the 
eyes,  which  appear  of  a  yellow  tint,  and  the  whole  skin  becomes 
impregnated  with  the  same  yellow  hue  as  the  disease  increases; 
the  eyes,  ears,  mouth  and  tail,  are  the  parts  where  it  is  most  con- 
spicuous to  the  sight.  The  animals  have  a  weakness  and  con- 
siderable debility  of  the  nervous  system,  a  want  of  appetite,  and 
an  aversion  to  move,  in  every  stage  of  this  disease.  When  in 
the  pasture,  they  are  continually  wandering  about  by  the  side 
of  the  hedges,  in  a  dejected  manner,  by  themselves.  When  a 
milk  cow  has  this  disease,  the  secretion  of  milk  is  lessened ;  the 
fore  teeth  sometimes  loosen ;  and  the  bowels  become  costive. 

Cure. — In  the  early  stages  of  this  disorder,  the  warm  laxative, 
directed  in  the  preceding  complaint,  will  generally  effect  a  cure; 
it  may  be  repeated  after  an  interval  of  five  or  six  days,  and  in 
the  interim,  the  following  drink  maybe  given  every  morning  and 
evening : 

Venice  turpentine,       ......  half  an  ounce, 

Ginger,       .......  3  drachma, 

Castile  soap,      .......  half  an  ounce, 

Powdered  gentian  root,   .....  1  ounce. 

The  soap  and  turpentine  may  be  rubbed  together  in  a  mortar, 
till  perfectly  incorporated ;  after  which  a  pint  of  water  may  be 
gradually  added,  and  afterwards  the  gentian  and  ginger. 

The  liver  becomes  generally  much  injured  in  the  more  advanced 
stages  of  this  disorder,  and  a  cure  is  then  almost  impossible. 

A  recent  author  makes  the  following  sensible  observations  on 
this  subject :  "  In  cattle,  a  vomit  of  emetic  tartar  may  be  tried 
at  the  first  appearance  of  the  disease,  as  the  effort  of  vomiting 
may  assist  in  promoting  the  passage  of  the  gall  stone.  If,  how- 
ever, the  disease  should  arise  in  consequence  of  previous  inflam- 
mation of  the  liver,  vomits  will  be  of  no  use,  and  the  best  rem- 
edies will  be  mercurial  purgatives,  with  soap.  The  food  should 
consist  of  succulent  and  watery  substances,  especially  of  fresh 
grass;  as  it  is  found  that  when  cattle  affected  with  this  disease 
are  sent  to  pasture,  they  commonly  soon  recover.  Warm  mashes 
21 


482  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  bran  or  malt  should  be  given  frequently,  both  to  obviate  cos- 
tiveness,  and  as  being  good  articles  of  diet.  If  the  disease 
should  continue  obstinate,  and  the  use  of  mercurial  medicines 
should  be  found  necessary,  the  animal  must  be  confined  within 
doors  during  night  and  bad  weather.  It  will  be  proper,  when- 
ever the  weather  and  other  circumstances  permit,  to  give  the 
animal  regular  exercise  in  the  open  air;  but  if  necessity  obliges 
us  to  keep  him  within  doors,  the  whole  body,  but  especially  the 
belly,  should  be  well  rubbed  for  a  considerable  time  twice  or 
thrice  a  day.  This  friction  will  be  proper,  even  though  regular 
exercise  can  be  taken  in  the  open  air." 


A  gathering  of  thick  clotted  matter  sometimes  takes  place 
within  the  nostrils,  which  very  much  impedes  respiration  when 
arrived  at  any  height,  and  produces  a  snivelling  noise  when  the 
air  passes  through  the  nostrils.  This  affection  is  termed  the 
snores,  or  snivels,  and  is  almost  peculiar  to  cattle.  The  swelling 
thus  caused  in  the  nostrils,  usually  proceeds  to  suppuration,  and 
when  it  breaks  the  animal  is  relieved.  It  should,  therefore,  be 
hastened  by  the  application  of  warm  stimulating  fomentations 
or  liniments.  It  is  usual  to  inject  the  oil  of  bays  up  into  the 
nostrils;  but  probably  the  steam  of  warm  water  would  answer, 
and  it  might  be  easily  applied  by  placing  a  warm  bran  mash  into 
a  canvas  bag,  and  tying  it  to  the  animal's  head;  repeating  it  till 
the  imposthume  breaks.  In  the  interim,  the  animal  should  be 
kept  in  the  house,  and  fed  on  good  nourishing  diet. 


In  the  publications  issued  by  Dr.  Jenner,  who  formerly  prac- 
ticed at  Berkeley,  in  Gloucestershire,  where  he  had  frequent 
opportunities  of  witnessing  this  disease  amongst  the  cows,  its 
symptoms  and  origin  are  ably  described: 

i(In  this  dairy  country,"  observes  Dr.  Jenner,  "a  great  num- 
ber of  cows  are  kept,  and  the  office  of  milking  is  performed  indis- 
criminately by  men  and  maid  servants.  One  of  the  former  hav- 
ing been  appointed  to  apply  dressings  to  the  heels  of  a  horse 
affected  with  the  grease,  and  not  paying  due  attention  to  clean- 
liness, incautiously  bears  his  part  "in  milking  the  cows,  with  some 
particles  of  the  infectious  matter  adhering  to  his  fingers.  When 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  483 

this  is  the  case  it  commonly  happens  that  the  disease  is  communi- 
cated to  the  cows,  and  from  the  cows  to  the  dairy  maids,  which 
spreads  through  the  farm,  until  most  of  the  cattle  and  domestics 
feel  its  unpleasant  consequences.  This  disease  has  obtained  the 
name  of  the  cow-pox.  It  appears  on  the  nipples  of  the  cows,  in 
the  form  of  irregular  pustules.  At  their  first  appearance,  they 
are  commonly  of  a  palish  blue,  or  rather  of  a  color  somewhat 
approaching  to  livid,  and  are  surrounded  by  an  erysipelatous 
inflammation.  These  pustules,  unless  a  timely  remedy  be  applied, 
frequently  degenerate  into  phagedenic  ulcers,  which  prove  ex- 
tremely troublesome.  The  animal  becomes  indisposed,  and  the 
secretion  of  milk  is  much  lessened." 

Another  kind  of  eruption  is  sometimes  apparent  on  the  udder 
of  the  cow,  which  has  some  resemblance  to  the  cow-pox,  and 
may  be  easily  mistaken  for  it.  It  consists  of  a  number  of  white 
blisters  on  the  nipples,  and  these  blisters  are  filled  with  a  whitish 
serous  fluid.  They  are  to  be  distinguished  from  the  pustules 
that  take  place  in  the  cow-pox,  by  their  not  having  the  bluish 
color  of  the  latter,  and  by  their  never  eating  into  the  fleshy  parts, 
being  confined  to  the  skin,  and  ending  in  scabs.  This  eruption 
is  also  considered  infectious,  though  not  in  so  high  a  degree  as 
the  real  cow-pox. 

Dr.  Jenner  conceives  that  this  spurious  eruption  is  chiefly  pro- 
duced by  the  transition  which  is  made  by  the  cow  in  the  spring, 
from  a  poor  diet  to  one  that  is  more  nourishing,  by  which  the 
udder,  at  this  season,  becomes  more  than  usually  vascular  for  the 
supply  of  milk.  There  is,  however,  another  species  of  inflam- 
mation and  pustules,  which  is  not  uncommon  amongst  the  dairy 
counties  of  the  west  of  England.  A  cow  intended  to  be  offered 
for  sale,  and  possessing  naturally  only  a  small  udder,  is  neither 
milked  by  the  milker,  nor  is  her  calf  suffered  to  have  access  to 
her  for  a  day  or  two  previous;  thus  the  milk  is  preternaturally 
accumulated;  and  the  udder  and  nipples  becoming  greatly  ex- 
tended, inflammation  and  pustular  eruption  frequently  ensue. 

THE    SHOOTE. 

This  is  a  most  fatal  disease  to  calves,  which  it  in  general 
attacks  a  few  days  after  their  birth.  The  usual  symptoms  are 
at  first,  a  colic  that  is  more  or  less  violent,  and  is  frequently  very 
dangerous  and  severe,  but  more  especially  when  it  is  contagious. 
The  calf  is  relieved  by  a  discharge  from  the  bowels  taking  place, 


484  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

when  the  colic  is  terminated;  though  this  will  sometimes  prove 
fatal  before  the  shoote  makes  its  appearance:  and  secondly,  a 
refusal,  and  loathing  of  food,  even  prior  to  the  discharge,  and 
which  will  increase  and  decrease  according  to  the  violence  and 
duration  of  the  disease.  When  the  shoote  prevails,  the  cheapest, 
and  probably  the  most  efficacious  medicine  which  has  been  in 
general  administered  by  experienced  breeders,  is  eggs  and  flour 
well  mixed  with  oil,  melted  butter,  and  linseed,  aniseeds,  or  other 
similar  mucilaginous  vegetables;  or,  as  some  recommend,  milk 
well  mulled  with  eggs,  may  be  administered  to  the  distempered 
animal. 

VENOMOUS    BITES. 

There  are  but  few  venomous  animals  in  this  country,  compared 
with  those  that  are  found  in  warmer  climates,  and  where  they 
often  prove  fatal  both  to  man  and  beast.  The  adder,  or  viper,  is 
most  common  in  this  country,  and  the  bite  of  this  reptile  is  fre- 
quently attended  with  very  dangerous  consequences.  Neat  cat- 
tle are  much  more  liable  to  be  stung  by  this  reptile  than  any 
other  of  the  domestic  animals.  Instances  have  been  known  to 
have  proved  fatal,  when  the  tongue  of  the  animal  has  been 
stung  while  grazing.  Cattle  are  seldom  attacked  by  adders, 
except  they  disturb  them  whilst  grazing;  and  this  is  the  main 
reason  why  so  many  are  bitten  about  the  head,  and  sometimes 
about  the  feet.  The  sting  of  the  wasp,  hornet,  or  bee,  are  fre- 
quently attended  with  considerable  pain  and  inflammation,  and 
require  a  similar  treatment  as  the  former. 

Cure. — The  following  liniment  will  be  found  a  powerful 
remedy  in  checking  the  progress  of  the  poison,  and  destroying 
it  in  the  part  affected : 

Spirits  of  turpentine,     .  .  .  .  .  .4  ounces, 

Olive  oil half  a  pint, 

Strong  spirits  of  hartshorn,      .  .  .  .  .4  ounces. 

Let  them  be  put  into  a  bottle  together,  and  well  shaken  every 
time  before  using. 

The  part  affected  must  be  well  rubbed  with  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  this  liniment  two  or  three  times  a  day,  until  the  inflam- 
mation and  swelling  abate. 

WOUNDS. 

Wounds  are  most  commonly  produced  by  cattle  goring  each 
other  with  their  horns,  or  by  breaking  through  fences;  and  when 
de^p  or  extensive,  considerable  inflammation  usually  proceeds. 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  485 

The  proper  treatment  of  wounds  depends  on  the  part  where 
they  are  inflicted,  and  the  instrument  that  caused  them.  A  clean 
cut  made  in  the  muscular  parts  is  soon  healed  by  the  early  appli- 
cation of  slips  of  sticking  plaster,  in  order  that  the  edges  of  the 
wound  may  be  kept  close  together ;  or,  if  plaster  cannot  be  speedily 
applied,  a  stitch  or  two  may  be  taken  through  the  edges  of  the 
wound,  and  the  strings  tied  gently  together.  When  the  edges 
perfectly  adhere,  the  strings  must  be  cut  away,  and  the  holes 
caused  by  them  will  soon  fill  up.  It  is  particularly  necessary 
that  all  wounds  should  be  perfectly  cleaned,  before  any  attempt 
is  made  to  heal  them.  It  will  occasionally  happen  that  the 
wound  is  so  situated  as  not  to  admit  of  its  being  sewed  up ;  but 
when  this  occurs,  silver  or  steel  pins  may  generally  be  passed 
from  the  edges,  about  an  inch  apart  from  each  other,  and  a 
thread  twisted  crosswise  from  one  to  the  other,  thus  forming 
what  is  called  the  twisted  suture.  In  every  case  where  it  is 
necessary  to  use  sutures,  a  sticking  plaster  should  be  applied 
over  the  edges  of  the  wound.  But  this  mode  of  treatment  can 
only  be  adopted  in  those  superficial  wounds  where  a  flap  of  the 
skin  is  separated ;  and  when  this  occurs,  it  is  not  requisite  to 
apply  any  stimulating  fluid,  as  some  writers  advise.  When 
there  is  any  dirt  or  other  matter  collected  about  the  wound,  it 
may  be  washed  off  with  warm  water. 

Where  the  wound  is  considerable,  and  important  parts  are 
affected,  the  most  decisive  means  should  be  speedily  employed 
to  keep  down  inflammation.  Immediately  after  which,  a  purga- 
tive, or  relaxative  drink  should  be  given,  and  the  parts  be 
fomented  with  a  decoction  of  mallows,  hemlock,  or  elder,  until 
the  inflammation,  if  any,  subsides.  Keep  it  always  washed  clean, 
and  if  warm  weather,  the  flies  away. 

After  the  inflammation  caused  by  the  wound  has  subsided,  it 
should  be  examined  with  a  probe,  in  order  to  ascertain  if  any 
matter  be  confined;  as  it  is  sometimes  necessary  to  give  it  vent 
by  enlarging  the  original  wound,  or  make  an  opening  in  another 
more  depending  situation,  that  it  may  run  off  freely.  It  may  be 
requisite  to  apply  at  this  period,  the  following  ointment: 

Common  turpentine,  .  .  .  .  .  .6  ounces, 

Hog's  lard,          .......  8  ounces, 

Beeswax,        ........    1  ounce. 

Melted  together. 


486  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

When  taken  from  the  fire,  one  ounce  of  powdered  verdigris 
may  be  added;  and  the  mixture  must  be  constantly  stirred  until 
it  is  cold. 

Should  a  lotion  be  preferred,  the  following  stimulating  solution 
will  be  found  useful: 

Sublimate,     ........    12  grains, 

Tincture  of  myrrh,       ......  2  ounces. 

Mixed. 

One  pint  of  oil  of  turpentine,  to  two  quarts  of  sweet  oil  with 
good  digestive. 

In  deep  wounds,  or  when  the  parts  are  much  divided,  sewing 
is  not  advisable.  Wounds  of  the  belly,  through  which  the  bow- 
els pass  out,  are  very  dangerous,  and  require  the  most  delicate 
management.  As  soon  as  an  accident  of  this  description  hap- 
pens, the  bowel  should  be  put  back  into  the  belly  as  tenderly  as 
possible :  and  if  any  dirt,  hair,  or  other  matter,  be  observed  upon 
the  gut,  it  must  be  carefully  washed  off  with  warm  water.  When 
the  bowel  has  been  replaced,  the  wound  must  be  stitched  up  by 
means  of  a  crooked  needle  and  threads  doubled,  or  small  twine 
well  waxed  (with  beeswax):  a  roller,  or  bandage  should  then 
be  applied.  The  animal  must  be  kept  at  rest,  on  an  opening  diet, 
of  grass  or  bran ;  and,  if  costive,  a  dose  of  castor  oil  should  be 
administered.  The  treatment  of  the  wound  is  of  little  conse- 
quence ;  the  principal  object  being  to  keep  the  bowel  in  its 
proper  situation.  A  considerable  quantity  of  air  will  occasion- 
ally get  into  the  gut,  after  it  has  escaped  from  the  belly,  by 
which  it  is  so  distended,  as  to  render  it  very  difficult,  if  not 
impracticable,  to  replace  it  through  the  original  wound.  Should 
this,  on  examination,  be  found  to  occur,  the  wound  must  be 
enlarged,  in  order  to  allow  the  gut  to  be  replaced,  which  must 
be  done  in  the  most  cautious  manner,  the  knife  being  properly 
guarded  by  the  fore-finger. 

Should  it  be  thought  necessary  to  stop  the  bleeding  from 
the  wound,  the  most  effectual  method  of  doing  it,  next  to  that 
of  tying  the  blood  vessel,  is  by  placing  bolsters  of  tow  or  sponge 
to  the  bleeding  part,  and  supporting  it  firmly  with  bandages.  If 
the  new  flesh  should  rise  above  the  surface,  and  appear  to  be 
produced  too  luxuriantly  during  the  progress  of  the  wound,  it 
may  easily  be  checked  by  sprinkling  on  the  cart  a  little  pow- 
dered blue  vitriol. 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  487 


STRAINS    AXD    BRUISES. 

Bleeding  is  most  advisable  whenever  these  accidents  occur  in 
a  considerable  degree,  or  an  important  part  is  injured ;  fomenta- 
tions are  at  first  the  most  proper  applications,  in  consequence  of 
inflammation  being  the  common  effect  of  these  injuries:  but 
when  the  inflammation  has  subsided,  the  liniment  recommended 
in  a  preceding  article,  on  the  swelling  of  the  udder,  may  be 
rubbed  on  the  part  twice  or  thrice  a  day.  "When  any  part  of 
the  limbs  is  so  strained  as  to  occasion  lameness,  and  it  continues 
after  the  above  application,  a  blister  should  be  used.  In  bruises 
that  occur  from  the  pressure  of  the  yoke,  or  other  slight  causes, 
the  lotion  prescribed  below  will  be  found  of  service: 

Goulard's  extract,       ......    half  an  ounce, 

Vinegar,      .......  4  ounces, 

Water,    ........    1  pint. 

Mixed. 

TO    DRY    A    COW    OF    HER    MILK. 

Mr.  Clater  observes  that  this  is  a  subject  with  which  every 
gentleman  grazier  should  be  well  acquainted.  It  is  frequently 
found  necessary  to  dry  cows  of  their  milk  at  all  times  of  the 
year,  in  order  that  they  may  the  better  be  fed  for  the  shambles. 
Some  cows  are  more  difficult  to  dry  than  others,  by  reason  of 
their  giving  too  large  a  quantity  of  milk,  and  the  gross  habits  of 
body  peculiar  to  some  beasts. 

Without  great  care  and  management,  these  will  be  liable  to 
the  downfall,  either  in  the  udder  or  foot;  or  otherwise  it  may 
terminate  in  some  inflammatory  disease. 

Cows  that  are  apt  to  milk  themselves,  are  difficult  to  dry; 
they  should,  therefore,  be  dried  early  in  the  spring,  while  on  dry 
food.  Others  may  be  dried  either  in  the  pasture  or  in  any  other 
place.  Such  cows  as  are  in  the  pasture,  give  a  considerable 
quantity  of  milk,  and  are  in  good  condition,  ought  to  be  brought 
into  a  foldyard  over  night,  and  from  three  to  four  quarts  of  blood 
taken  from  them,  and  the  next  morning  the  following  drink 
administered: 

Bole  armenic,  powdered,    .  .  .  .  .  .2  ounces, 

Roach  alumn,  powdered,  (If  a  large  beast,  8  ounces,)       .         6  ounces. 

Mix  and  put  them  in  a  pitcher,  then  pour  a  pint  and  a  half  of 
boiling  ale  upon  the  ingredients.  Afterwards  add  one  pint  of 
good  vinegar,  and  give  when  new  milk  warm. 


488  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

The  cow  must  be  milked  clean  at  the  time  the  above  drink  is 
given,  and  two  hours  after  may  be  turned  into  her  pasture. 
About  four  days  after,  if  her  udder  appears  hard  and  full,  let  her 
be  brought  out  of  the  pasture,  milked  clean,  and  the  drink  be 
repeated  as  before. 

This  is  generally  sufficient  to  dry  any  cow  of  her  milk ;  but  as 
some  cows  give  so  much  that  it  renders  them  very  difficult  to 
dry,  it  is  therefore  frequently  found  necessary  to  repeat  the  drink 
and  milking  every  fourth  day,  for  three  or  four  times,  before  they 
can  be  completely  dried. 

MURRAIN,   OR    PUTRID    FEVER.* 

Murrain,  or  pests,  are  undoubtedly  the  most  serious  epidemic 
fevers  that  ever  have  appeared  among  domestic  animals,  owing 
to  their  violence  and  fatality;  they  have  occasionally  raged,  from 
the  earliest  historical  accounts.  From  the  several  statements 
that  have  been  made  concerning  the  disorder,  it  seems  to  have 
varied  in  its  symptoms  and  effects,  according  to  the  countries  in 
which  it  appeared,  the  various  seasons  in  which  its  ravages  were 
commenced,  and  some  other  circumstances  not  perfectly  ascer- 
tained. It  is  evident  that  this  disease  was  infectious,  since  it 
was  easily  propagated  among  the  species  of  animals  which  it 
attacked;  but  it  is  not  certain  that  it  has  the  power  of  spreading 
to  other  species ;  as  men,  horses,  sheep,  and  dogs,  that  live  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  cattle  infected  by  it,  evinced  no  signs  of 
having  received  the  contagion.  Nineteen  out  of  twenty  cattle 
attacked  by  this  disease  are  said,  by  Mr.  Savage,  to  have  died. 

Causes. — The  causes  and  nature  of  this  disorder  have  not 
been  precisely  ascertained.  Some  have  imagined  it  to  be  con- 
nected with  a  peculiar  state  of  the  atmosphere,  and  that  it  did  not 
originate  in  contagion.  Many  consider  the  principal  cause  of  the 
disease  to  be  previous  hard  winters,  obstructed  perspiration, 
worms  in  the  liver,  and  corrupted  food. 


DISKASKS    AND    REMEDIES.  489 

Symptoms. — The  following  account  of  this  disease  is  given  by 
Dr.  Brocklesby.  For  ten  days  or  a  fortnight  the  cattle  were 
troubled  with  a  dry  cough,  which  is  indeed  not  an  uncommon 
symptom  among  cattle  at  the  close  of  a  severe  winter,  and  there- 
fore Dr.  Brocklesby  did  not  consider  it  belonging  to  the  present 
disease ;  their  eyes  looked  heavy,  and,  when  the  principal  disorder 
appeared,  they  refused  fodder,  but  had  an  insatiable  thirst  for  a 
time.  The  milk  cows  decreased  in  their  milk,  which  remained 
to  a  certain  quantity,  sometimes,  for  two  days,  before  it  changed 
color,  but  at  length  often  dried  up.  On  ceasing  to  chew  the  cud, 
a  shivering  seized  them  all  over,  and  a  high  fever  immediately 
came  on;  the  milk,  if  any  remained  at  thai  time,  curdled  over 
the  fire,  but  did  not  in  the  first  of  the  disorder. .  At  first  the 
belly  was  costive,  but  for  the  most  part  a  looseness  succeeded 
within  forty-eight  hours  after  the  shivering  fit.  The  stools  were 
first  green  and  watery,  and  of  a  stinking  smell;  their  consist- 
ence, however,  altered  afterwards  to  a  viscid,  slimy  matter;  the 
purging  continued  till  about  the  seventh  day,  and  about  that  time 
the  excrements  became  thicker  in  such  as  recovered ;  and  these 
soon  chewed  their  cud  again,  and  tasted  the  fodder,  which  they 
had  before  absolutely  refused  through  the  whole  disease.  All 
that  had  not  the  looseness  before  the  third  day  died.  The  urine 
was  very  high  colored,  and  in  smaller  quantities.  The  degree  of 
fever  was  observed  very  high;  upon  the  third  day,  the  pulse 
beat  nearly  a  hundred  times  in  a  minute,  whereas  the  ingenious 
Dr.  Hales  found  a  sound  ox's  artery  not  to  exceed  thirty-eight 
pulses  in  the  same  time.  At  different  intervals,  after  the  attack, 
they  all  labored  under  a  prodigious  difficulty,  and  panting  for 
breath;  some  suffered  these  after  the  first  day,  others  not  before 
the  third.  But  this  disorder  suffered  remissions,  and  seemed 
augmented  towards  evening  and  at  night.  Several  beasts  dis- 
charged, towards  the  fourth  or  fifth  day,  when  ill,  a  very  great 
quantity  of  frothy  liquor  from  the  mouth  and  eyes;  others  ran 
actually  purulent  matter  from  the  nostrils.  As  the  disorder 
advanced,  the  eyes  sunk  more  in  their  orbits,  and  some  were 
observed  to  be  quite  blind.  Towards  the  conclusion,  the  fore 
parts  of  the  body,  and  particularly  the  glands  about  the  head 
were  prodigiously  swelled;  and  several  beasts  had  a  universal 
emphysema,  or  crackling  of  air  beneath  their  skin;  those  that 
were  not  blooded  equally  with  such  as  were.  Frequently  one 
21' 


490  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

might  observe  pustules  break  out,  on  the  fifth  or  sixth  days,  all 
over  the  neck  and  fore  parts.  Some  cattle  were  raging  mad  on 
the  first  day;  such  were  necessarily  killed:  some  dropped  down 
suddenly ;  others  died  on  the  third ;  most  on  the  sixth  or  seventh ; 
very  few  alive  on  the  fourteenth  day.  Before  death,  the  horns 
and  dugs  grew  remarkably  cold. 

Cure. — The  method  of  treating  the  cattle,  recommended  by 
Dr.  Brocklesby,  is  as  follows:  Before  the  cattle  are  seized,  he  ad- 
vises two  setons  or  pegs  to  be  put  deep  in  the  dewlap,  and  into  the 
under  part  of  the  neck;  and,  immediately  upon  refusing  fodder, 
the  beasts  should  have  three  quarts  of  blood  taken  away;  and 
after  twelve  hours,  two  quarts  more;  after  the  next  twelve 
hours,  about  three  pints  may  be  let  out ;  and,  after  the  following 
twelve  hours,  diminish  a  pint  of  blood  from  the  quantity  taken 
away  at  the  preceding  blood-letting;  lastly,  about  a  single  pint 
should  be  taken  away  in  less  than  twelve  hours  after  the  former 
bleeding,  so  that  when  the  beast  has  been  bled  five  times,  in  the 
manner  here  proposed,  the  worst  symptoms  will,  it  is  hoped, 
abate;  but  if  the  difficulty  and  panting  for  breath  continue  very 
great,  he  sees  no  reason  against  repeated  bleeding;  or  at  least 
against  taking  away  the  fifth  time,  instead  of  a  single  pint,  twice 
that  quantity. 

In  the  meantime,  the  setons  or  pegs  should  be  daily  promoted 
to  suppuration  by  moving  the  cord;  and  the  cattle  should  have 
as  much  bran  water  as  they  chose  to  drink  lukewarm.  This 
should  be  made  a  little  tart  or  sourish,  either  with  common  vine- 
gar or  spirit  of  vitriol:  and  immediately  after  the  first  bleeding, 
they  should  have  the  following  drench:* 

Nitre,          .......    1  ounce  and  a  half, 

Honey,  ......  2  ounces, 

Camphor,   .  .  .  .  .  .  .1  drachm  and  a  half, 

Water  gruel,  ......  1  quart. 

It  is  rather  surprising  that  this  same  treatment,  with  a  trifling 
variation  in  the  internal  medicine,  is  also  recommended  by  Mr. 
Feron,  as  the  result  of  his  own  experience,  in  what  he  terms  the 
general  inflammation  of  cattle. 

*  When  the  disease  has  once  settled  itself  in  the  system,  all  "  drenches,"  or  other 
medicaments  are  useless— most  of  all,  this  everlasting  "  bleeding,"  which,  if  under- 
taken at  all  by  the  above  directions,  had  better  not  stop  until  the  suffering  beast  is 
relieved— by  death.— L.  F.  A. 


DISEASKS    AND    REMEDIES.  491 

MALIGNANT  EPIDEMICS — MURRAIN,   PLEURO-PXEUMOXIA, 
RINDERPEST. 

We  sliould  hardly  mention  these  terrible  diseases,  had  not  our 
attention  been  recently  called  to  them,  by  the  late  devastations 
in  the  herds  of  British  cattle,  within  the  last  two  or  three  years, 
to  such  extent,  that  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  some 
t\vo  years  ago,  by  a  solemn  enactment,  prohibited  the  importa- 
tion of  foreign  cattle  into  our  country,  altogether.  That  law  is 
still  in  force,  and  possibly  to  the  salvation  of  our  own  domestic 
herds,  which  might  otherwise  have  been  endangered  by  impor- 
tations, which,  of  late  years,  have  been  frequent. 

This  disease,  or  diseases — for  they  are  all  malignant  epidem- 
ics— perhaps  taking  a  more  extreme  type  as  circumstances  may 
govern,  but  all  attended  with  a  terrible  fatality,  has  existed  on 
the  Eastern  Continent,  at  various  times,  for  some  thousands  of 
years.  Youatt  gives  an  elaborate  description  of  the  disease. 
The  first  we  hear  of  it  is  in  the  Bible,  (Exodus  ix.  3-6,)  when 
the  cattle  of  Egypt  were  smote  with  murrain  as  a  punishment 
for  retaining  the  children  of  Israel  in  bondage.  Profane  writers, 
as  Homer,  Hippocrates,  Plutarch,  Virgil,  and  others  before 
Christ,  make  mention  of  it,  and  it  has  existed  in  various  coun- 
tries of  Asia,  and  Europe,  down  to  the  present  day — not  con- 
tinuously, but  at  different  periods — and  been  attended  with 
devastating  fatality,  sweeping,  at  times,  the  countries  which  it 
ravaged,  of  almost  all  their  herds. 

The  lights  of  science  and  investigation  have  failed  to  give  the 
cause  or  origin  of  these  epidemics ;  but  that  they  have  been  con- 
tagious is  certain,  and  the  immediate  extinction  of  the  herds 
affected  with  it  has  proved  as  yet  its  only  certain  cure.  "We 
have  not  space  to  recount  its  ravages,  even  in  England  of  late, 
and  can  only  allude  to  it  in  connection  with  what  we  have  lately 
known  of  it  in  our  own  country.  "  Murrain,"  as  we  understand 
it  in  America,  is  only  a  casual  disease,  deadly  enough  whnn  it 


492  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

breaks  out,  but  mitigated  in  its  virulence  from  the  deadly  mur- 
rain of  scriptural  times,  which  was  of  malignant  type.  Pleuro- 
pneumonia  is  worse  and  more  deadly  than  any  domestic  mur- 
rain, and  has  prevailed,  at  sundry  times,  to  more  or  less  fatal 
extent  in  America;  but  the  still  more  deadly  and  fatal  Rinder- 
pest has  visited  us  but  once,  and  that  recently. 

These  may  be  called  kindred  diseases,  as  the  forms  they  take 
may  rage  with  less,  or  greater  violence  and  fatality,  or  yield  to, 
or  resist  medical  treatment.  A  brief  history  of  the  Rinderpest 
in  America,  may  be  important  for  our  information.  We  find  it 
in  the  "  Fourteenth  Annual  Report  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Massachusetts  Board  of  Agriculture,  for  the  year  1865,"  as  a 
report  of  a  Commission  appointed  by  the  State  Legislature  to 
investigate  the  disease.  It  is  there  given  as  the  Pleuro-pneumo- 
nia: 

"We  may  reasonably  entertain  the  hope,  that  after  a  long 
series  of  well-meant  and  well-directed  efforts,  that  contagious 
disease  among  cattle,  known  as  pleuro-pneumonia,  has  been  erad- 
icated; while  the  sad  experience  of  Great  Britain  in  combating 
a  somewhat  analagous  disease,  the  rinderpest  or  cattle  plague, 
which  has  carried  off  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  of  the 
finest  animals,  has  become  sufficiently  well  known  to  confirm  the 
wisdom  and  sound  judgment  of  our  own  State  authorities  in  the 
course  adopted  to  prevent  the  introduction  and  spread  of  con- 
tagious diseases  among  our  stock. 

"It  Is  possible  that  in  the  early  stages  of  our  efforts  to  arrest 
the  progress  of  the  pleuro-pneumonia,  when  the  disease  was  less 
understood  than  it  is  now,  a  somewhat  larger  number  of  cattle 
were  destroyed  than  was  absolutely  necessary  to  secure  the  object 
in  view ;  but  no  one  can  be  so  short-sighted  as  not  to  admit  that 
it  was  better  to  err  on  the  side  of  safety  than  to  run  the  risk  of 
incurring  the  losses  which  would  inevitably  have  followed 
neglect;  for  we  know  now  that  every  conceivable  expedient  was 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  493 

adopted  by  the  English  government  to  avoid  the  harsh  necessity 
of  a  resort  to  the  'stamping-out  process,'  and  that  it  was  com- 
pelled to  come  to  it  at  last,  and  to  admit  that  it  was  the  only 
effectual  means  of  avoiding  a  far  more  terrible  disaster,  the  losses 
in  two  years  being  about  twenty  millions  of  dollars. 

"By  a  reference  to  the  following  report  of  the  Massachusetts 
Commissioners  on  Contagious  Diseases  among  Cattle,  it  will  be 
seen  that  the  aggregate  cost  to  the  State  of  extirpating  the  dis- 
ease from  our  herds  has  been  less  than  seventy  thousand  dollars, 
an  amount  which  must  appear  trifling  when  compared  with  the 
results  attained,  and  the  exemption  secured,  by  the  efficient 
efforts  of  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  and  the  too  little 
appreciated  labors  of  the  Cattle  Commissioners. 

"The  Commissioners  on  Contagious  Diseases  among  Cattle,  in 
submitting  their  report,  congratulate  the  people  of  the  Com- 
monwealth upon  the  probable  extinction  of  the  disease,  (no  case 
having  come  to  their  knowledge  since  October,  1865,)  which  but 
a  few  years  since  threatened  to  be  of  so  serious  a  character,  viz.: 
pleuro-pneumonia. 

"The  Commissioners  have  been  called  to  several  towns  during 
the  past  year,  to  examine  diseased  animals,  yet  not  a  case  of 
contagious  pleuro-pneumonia  lias  been  found. 

"A  concise  history  of  the  disease,  from  its  first  appearance  in 
Mr.  Chenery's  herd  in  Belmont,  to  the  present  time,  is  deemed 
of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  its  insertion  in  this  report. 

"In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1859,  four  cattle  arrived  from 
Holland  and  were  taken  to  the  farm  of  Mr.  Chenery.*  Two  of 
them  were  sick,  and  in  a  few  days  died.  Another  soon  after 
sickened  and  died.  At  the  time  of  the  death  of  the  third,  three 
calves  were  sold  to  go  to  North  Brookfield,  one  of  which  was 
taken  to  the  herd  of  a  dealer  for  treatment,  being  sick.  The 

*  See  notice  of  Mr.  Chenery's  importation  of  Holstein  cattle,  page  It59.— L.  F.  A. 


494  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

dealer,  trading  in  cattle,  as  usual,  soon  spread  the  disease  far  and 
wide. 

"In  the  following  April,  an  act  was  passed  'to  provide  for  the 
extirpation  of  the  disease  called  pleuro-pneumonia  among  cattle,' 
which  gave  the  Commissioners  power  to  cause  to  be  killed  all 
cattle  rh  herds  where  the  disease  was  known  or  suspected  to 
exist.  The  disease  had,  at  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  act, 
been  extensively  scattered,  and  in  a  short  time  the  appropriation 
($10,000)  w&s  absorbed.  A  larger  number  of  cattle  having 
been  exposed  than  was  at  first  estimated,  an  extra  session  of  the 
legislature  was  called  to  revise  the  law,  arid  to  provide  the  means 
of  executing  it.  A  new  law  was  enacted,  and  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  Executive  on  the  12th  of  June. 

"  No  new  outbreak  of  the  disease  occurred  during  that  year, 
nor  in  that  locality,  as  far  as  is  known,  to  the  present  time.  The 
number  of  cattle  killed  was  nine  hundred  and  thirty-two. 

"  For  more  than  a  year  nothing  was  heard  of  pleuro-pneumonia. 
Tn  fact,  those  most  directly  interested  were  confident  that  the 
disease  was  extirpated.  Early  in  the  following  winter,  however, 
it  was  reported  that  it  existed  in  Milton,  Dorchester,  and 
Quincy. 

i(  A  Board  of  Commissioners  was  appointed,  who,  upon  investi- 
gation, found  the  report  to  be  true.  A  pair  of  cattle  was  purchased 
at  Brighton,  which  were  taken  to  Quincy,  and  both  died.  No 
further  history  of  them  could  be  learned,  as  it  was  impossible  to 
identify  them;  but  the  spread  of  the  disease  could  in  every 
instance  be  traced  to  contact  with  the  animals  in  the  herd  in 
which  they  were  at  the  time  of  their  death,  as  shown  in  the 
report  of  that  year.  The  number  killed  during  the  year,  was 
one  hundred  and  fifty-four. 

"For  several  months  the  Commissioners  felt  confident  that  the 
disease  was  eradicated.  In  February,  1863.  the  Commissioners 
were  called  to  examine  sick  cattle  in  the  north  part  of  Waltham 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  495 

— also  in  Lexington.  It  proved  to  be  pleuro-pneumonia,  and  its 
origin  was  directly  traced  to  a  dealer,  and  from  the  sale  of  cattle 
by  him,  to  eight  different  herds.  The  appropriation  ($1,000) 
was  soon  exhausted,  consequently  the  Commissioners  resigned. 

"The  selectmen  of  several  towns  were  called  upon  to  execute 
the  law,  which  they  (some  of  them  at  least,)  reluctantly  did,  yet 
the  disease  still  prevailed.  Accordingly  the  present  board  of 
Commissioners  was  appointed  in  April,  1864. 

"It  was  found  that  several  herds  were  affected,  and  that  the 
origin  of  the  disease  was  in  Lexington,  or  that  immediate  vicinity. 
Seventy-four  cattle  were  killed  during  the  year. 

"In  1865,  but  three  herds  were  found  affected  with  the  disease, 
from  which  four  animals  were  killed. 

"The  Legislature  in  its  last  session,  in  a  proviso  to  the  resolve, 
allowing  the  sum  of  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  the  use  of  the 
Commissioners,  require  them  to  make  investigation  and  report 
upon  the  curability  of  the  disease. 

"No  cases  of  the  disease  having  come  before  the  board  the 
past  year,  they  were  of  course  unable  to  comply  with  the  request, 
and  can  only  refer,  for  information  on  this  subject,  to  the  report 
of  last  year,  on  the  experiments  made  by  the  Commissioners 
during  the  years  of  1864  and  1865. 

"The  uniform  course  of  the  present  board  has  been  to  isolate 
all  herds  they  have  found  affected  with  the  disease,  and  such 
other  cattle  as  had  in  any  way  been  exposed  to  diseased  herds, 
to  kill  such  as  they  were  satisfied  had  the  disease  to  that  extent, 
as  to  make  them  useless  to  the  owners,  and,  in  but  few  instances, 
only  such.  The  result  of  our  action  contrasts  favorably  with  that 
of  Great  Britain,  in  the  management  heretofore  of  contagious 
diseases  among  cattle. 

"In  Great  Britain,  during  the  past  two  years,  public  attention 
has  been  diverted  from  pleuro-pneumonia,  to  the  more  terrible 
disease,  rinderpest. 


49G  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"  We  here  quote  from  Prof.  McCall's  introductory  lecture  before 
the  class  of  veterinary  students,  November  6lh,  of  the  present 
year,  at  Glasgow,  Scotland,  to  show  that  pleuro-pneumonia  is  still 
making  its  ravages  among  the  cattle  of  that  country : 

"'For  upwards  of  twenty  years  this  country  has  annually  lost 
thousands  of  cattle  from  one  contagious  disease  alone,  viz.:  pleuro- 
pneumonia,  and  at  the  present  moment  it  is  busy  among  our 
herds.  One  gentleman  present  has  lost  twenty-two  out  of  a 
herd  of  thirty -five;  and  a  few  weeks  ago  I  was  consulted  by  a 
farmer  wlio  had  lost  twelve  out  of  twenty,  and  now  the  disease 
has  appeared  among  his  young  stock.  The  number  of  deaths  in 
these  instances  are  appalling,  and  the  loss,  directly  or  indirectly, 
cannot  be  estimated  at  less  than  £900  or  £1,000 — ($5,000.) 

"'The  plague  has  drained  the  pockets  of  farmers  and  dairy- 
men of  thousands  sterling;  but,  thank  Providence,  we  are  now 
free  of  the  disease  in  this  country.  Pleuro-pneumonia  has  drained 
our  pockets  of  millions  of  pounds,  and  she  is  still  in  our  midst, 
the  great  enemy  of  our  stock.  *****  Use  the  means 
I  have  indicated,  and  the  means  which  the  plague  has  taught  us 
to  be  of  benefit,  in  controlling  contagious  diseases,  and  if  the  con- 
tagious pleuro-pneumonia  of  cattle,  now  decimating  our  stock,  is 
not  thereby  extinguished — stamped  out — its  operations  will  be  so 
curtailed,  that  the  losses  resulting  to  stockholders,  from  the  pres- 
ence of  the  disease,  will  sit  light  upon  them.' 

•  "Prof.  Simonds,  in  his  introductory  address,  delivered  at  the 
Veterinary  College  in  London,  in  October,  says : 

"'From  this  time,  the  disease  called  rinderpest,  spread  in  all 
directions,  the  attacks  gradually  rising  until  they  reached,  in  the 
week  ending  February  17th,  1866,  the  alarming  number  of 
15,706.  The  first  order  in  council,  was  dated  July  14th,  1865, 
and  from  that  period  until  now,  order  has  succeeded  order,  with 
more  or  less  influence  in  checking  the  progress  of  the  malady, 
and  providing  for  the  altered  state  of  things  arising  out  of  its 
existence. 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  497 

"'The  passage  of  the  Cattle  Plague  Act  was,  however,  the 
real  cause  of  the  diminution  of  the  cases  which  have  since  taken 
place,  and  which  emboldens  us  to  hope  that  ere  long  the  dis- 
ease will  be  entirely  exterminated.  For  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  visitation,  the  attacks  were  returned  as  under  one 
hundred  for  the  week  ending  September  1st,  ninety-nine  being 
the  exact  number  reported  by  the  inspectors.' 

"He  quotes  from  the  official  returns  the  amount  of  loss  which 
England  herself,  apart  from  other  parts  of  Great  Britain,  has 
sustained : 

'"The  total  attacks  are  returned  as  198,406.  The  animals 
killed,  (diseased,)  amounted  to  77,508;  those  which  died,  to 
90,415;  the  recovered,  to  21,589;  and  the  unaccounted  for,  to 
8,894.  Besides  which,  no  less  than  38,356  have  been  slaugh- 
tered healthy,  to  prevent  the  spread  of  the  malady.  These 
figures  are  truly  formidable;  but  they  fail  to  show  a  tithe  part 
of  the  distress  and  ruin  which  has  been  brought  on  hundreds  of 
industrious  iarmers  and  cattle  owners  by  this  dreadful  visitation.' 

"In  speaking  of  Scotland,  he  says: 

"  'It  appears  from  the  official  returns,  that  the  attacks  in  Scot- 
land amount  to  46,861,  being  4.841  per  cent,  of  the  entire  stock 
of  the  country. 

"'In  Ireland,  but  fifty  cattle  were  exposed  to  the  disease; 
twenty -nine  were  attacked,  and  either  died  or  were  killed,  and 
twenty-one  were  slaughtered  healthy. 

"  'Nothing  can  show  more  clearly  the  propriety  of  the  stamp- 
ing-out process  than  this  result.  In  it  we  have  a  parallel  with 
what  took  place  in  France,  where  only  forty-three  animals, 
healthy  and  diseased,  were  sacrificed  to  the  pole-axe,  the  country 
being  thereby  freed  from  the  plague.' 

"The  Cattle  Plague  Act,  alluded  to  above,  resembles  the  law 
passed  by  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  at  the  extra  session, 
in  its  general  features;  and  the  course  adopted  by  the  authori- 


498  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

ties  of  Great  Britain,  in  relation  to  rinderpest,  is  similar  to  that 
taken  by  the  present  Board  of  Commissioners  in  Massachusetts, 
in  relation  to  pleuro-pneumonia. 

"Prof.  Siinonds  further  says  that  a  focus  of  the  disease  still 
exists;  consequently  the  law  passed  by  Congress,  preventing  the 
landing  of  any  cattle  from  foreign  seaports,  should  be  continued 
in  force. 

"We  append  to  this  report,  a  statement  of  the  entire  expendi- 
ture, by  the  State  of  Massachusetts,  for  the  extirpation  of  the 
disease,  since  its  commencement  in  I860,  obtained  from  the  treas- 
urer's books,  which  is  $67,511.08.  In  addition  to  this  amount, 
the  several  towns  where  the  disease  has  been  found,  have  paid 
one-fifth  of  the  cost  of  isolation,  and  of  the  appraised  value  of 
all  the  cattle  killed,  amounting  to  a  sum  which  we  estimate  at 
$10,000.  (There  is  no  printed  report  of  the  number  of  cattle 
killed  by  order  of  the  selectmen  of  towns  in  1863.) 

"The  amount  paid  from  the  treasury  on  account  of  pleuro- 
pneumonia,  is  as  follows: 


In  1860, 
1861, 
1862, 
1863, 
1864, 

$28,733  21 
14,118  43 
4,525  86 
6,657  32 
7,467  07 

In  1865, 
1866, 

$5,622  84 
386  35 

$67,511  08." 

Thus,  it  will  be  seen,  that  the  disease  in  Massachusetts  was 
effectually  "stamped  out"  by  the  energetic,  relentless  action  of 
the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the  State  for  that  purpose. 

We  do  not  find  in  this  report  any  account  of  the  workings  of 
the  disease,  and  for  that  omission,  we  are  enabled  to  supply  them 
from  a  report  of  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  a  law  of  the 
Legislature  of  the  State  of  Nejv  York,  passed  in  the  year  1866, 
immediately  after  the  passage  of  the  law  by  Congress  prohibit- 
ing the  further  importation  of  foreign  cattle  into  this  country. 
We  cannot  do  better,  perhaps,  than  to  copy  the  "circular," 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES,  499 

addressed  by  this  "  Commission,"  at  their  meeting  in  Albany, 
June  7th,  1866,  "To  the  Farmers  of  the  State  of  New  York." 
The  danger  of  the  epidemic  then  reaching  our  shores,  was 
thought  to  be  imminent : 

RINDERPEST. 

"The  disease  called  the  rinderpest,  which  swept  across  the 
Eastern  Continent  with  such  resistless  fury,  destroying  vast  num- 
bers of  ruminant  animals,  may,  at  any  moment,  reach  our  shores. 

"In  view  of  such  a  contingency,  the  Legislature  of  our  State, 
at  its  last  session,  appointed  the  undersigned  Commissioners, 
charged  to  watch  over  the  preservation  of  our  flocks  and  herds 
from  this  disease,  and  armed  them  with  plenary  powers  to  adopt 
such  measures  as  might  conduce  to  the  result. 

"No  amount  of  energy  or  wisdom,  on  the  part  of  the  Com- 
missioners can,  however,  ward  off  the  ravages  of  the  disease,  with- 
out the  hearty  co-operation  of  the  owners  of  cattle.  United, 
harmonious  action,  guided  by  an  intelligent  plan,  will  reduce  the 
number  of  victims  to  a  minimum. 

"  As  a  part  of  such  plan,  we  desire  to  offer  the  folio  wing  ad  vice, 
which  we  hope  will  commend  itself  to  the  judgment  of  cattle 
owners,  and  prevent  the  spreading  of  the  disease : 

1.  Symptoms. 

"After  exposure  to  contagion,  the  cattle  exhibit  no  external 
marks  of  disease  until  from  the  seventh  to  the  fourteenth  day, 
when  the  following  succession  of  symptoms  present  themselves: 

"(a.)  The  breath  becomes  fetid.  We  urge  farmers,  therefore, 
to  watch  their  herds,  daily,  for  the  occurrence  of  this  symptom, 
which  is  easily  recognized.  The  odor  sometimes  resembles  that 
of  small  pox,  and  is  the  very  first  symptom  presented  by  the 


"(6.)     As  soon  as  thin  odor  is  observed,  the  mouth  and  the 
vagina  ivill  be  found  unnaturally  hot  and  red. 


500  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

"  (c.)  TJie  temperature,  of  the  rectum  rises  from  100°  and  102°, 
its  normal  temperature,  to  105°,  106°  and  107°,  when  the  pres- 
ence of  the  disease  may  be  confidently  asserted.  This  test  the 
herdmaster  should  never  overlook. 

"  (d.)  A  few  hours  after,  the  lower  lip  will  show,  on  its  internal 
surface,  numerous  apthous  patches,  like  small  blisters,  about  the 
size  of  a  pin's  head.  As  soon  as  these  appear,  a  thick  fluid  will 
exude  and  run  from  the  mouth. 

"(e.)  The  animal  will  hold  its  head  to  one  side,  and  have  a 
peculiar  dejected  and  pitiful  look.  This  is  very  characteristic  of 
the  disease,  and  cannot  easily  be  mistaken. 

"  When  these  symptoms  appear,  notice  of  the  fact  should  be 
promptly  transmitted  to  the  nearest  Commissioner.  We  cannot 
too  strongly  urge  upon  cattle  owners,  the  importance  of  constant 
watchfulness  for  the  occurrence  of  these  symptoms,  and  of  prompt 
information  to  the  Commissioner  the  moment  they  are  observed. 

2.    What  is  to  be  done. 

"(a.)  Remove  all  hay  or  other  food  from  the  manger.  Do 
not  permit  the  animal  to  eat  anything. 

"(i.)  Clean  the  stall  in  which  the  animal  is  confined.  No 
straw  should  be  allowed  as  litter.  Saw-dust  is  best,  or  if  it  can- 
not be  had,  dry  sand  may  be  used  in  its  stead. 

"(c.)  Dig  a  grave,  at  least  five  feet  in  depth,  and  large 
enough  for  the  animal  with  its  droppings  and  litter. 

"(<£)  Scrape  up  the  saw-dust  or  sand  whenever  any  excre- 
ment or  urine,  or  the  'thick  fluid,'  mentioned  in  section  1,  falls 
upon  it,  and  deposit  it  in  the  grave,  covering  it  with  sulphate  of 
iron  (green  copperas)  or  quick-lime.  Cover  the  spaces  thus 
scooped  out  with  fresh  saw-dust  or  sand.  (This  recommenda- 
tion is  of  very  great  importance,  experience  in  Europe  having 
shown  conclusively  that  it  is  through  the  action  of  these  excre- 
tions mainly,  that  the  disease  is  transmitted.  Horses,  sheep,  rats 
and  even  birds,  which  have  put  their  feet  in  these  excretions,  and 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES. 


601 


afterwards  walked  on  a  public  road,  havej:ommunicated  the  dis- 
ease to  cattle  which  passed  over  the  same  road  afterwards.  We 
think  this  precaution  will  do  more  than  any  other  to  arrest  the 
progress  of  the  disease,  should  it  reach  this  country.) 

"(e.)  Every  person  whose  feet  have  been  in  contact  with 
these  excrements,  should  wipe  them,  carefully,  before  leaving  the 
stable.  A  box  of  chloride  of  lime  should  stand  at  the  stable 
door,  and  after  wiping  the  shoes,  the  person  should  stand  in  this 
box,  to  disinfect  them.  Those  who  carry  out  the  excretions, 
should  carefully  avoid  touching  them  with  their  clothes,  and 
should  thoroughly  wash  their  hands  with  soap  and  water,  after 
such  work. 

"(/.)  Isolate  all  cattle  from  the  sick  ones,  keeping  to  wind- 
ward of  them. 

"(<7.)     Keep  a  good  supply  of  disinfectants  always  on  hand. 

3.   Medical  treatment. 

"It  is  not  worth  while  for  you  to  waste  money  on  medical 
treatment.  Nearly  all  the  drugs  in  the  Materia  Medica  have 
been  tried  in  Europe,  and  found  ineffectual. 

4.   Precautions. 

"(a.)  Keep  your  cattle  off  of  and  away  from  public  roads 
as  much  as  possible. 

"  ( b.)  Prevent  them  from  having  any  intercourse  with  strange 
cattle. 

"(c.)  Improve  the  ventilation  of  your  stables,  keep  them 
scrupulously  clean,  and  admit  more  sunlight  into  them  than  is 
usual. 

"(d.)  If  strange  farm  laborers  come  upon  your  premises, 
insist  upon  their  dipping  their  shoes  in  the  box  of  chloride  of 
lime,  mentioned  in  section  2,  (e.) 

"(e.)  The  more  healthy  the  condition  in  which  animals  are 
kept,  the  more  likely  will  thiy  be  to  resist  the  contagion. 


502 


AMERICAN    CATTLE. 


"  (/.)  The  more  highly  bred  are  your  animals,  the  more  care- 
ful should  you  be  to  keep  them  from  exposure,  as  experience 
shows  that  thorough  bred  animals  are  more  likely  to  take  the 
disease  than  common  cattle." 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that,  had  the  disease  appeared,  the  New 
York  Commissioners,  being  armed  with  the  power,  had  occasion 
required  its  use,  would  have  as  effectually  "stamped  out"  the 
plague  by  immediate  slaughter,  as  did  their  predecessors  in  Mas- 
sachusetts. Happily  such  occasion  passed,  and  we  trust  there 
may  be  no  future  necessity  of  any  action.  The  commission  was 
renewed  in  the  year  1867,  to  continue  three  years. 

A  modified  pleuro-pneumonia  has  occasionally  broken  out  in 
some  of  the  eastern  counties  of  New  York,  and  Pennsylvania, 
alarming  to  some  extent,  at  first,  but  prompt  attention  prevented 
its  spreading,  if  it  did  not  yield  to  treatment.  Although  we 
hope  the  disease  may  never  occur  with  us,  we  have  thought  that 
a  somewhat  extended  notice  of  it  would  not  be  unprofitable,  but 
indeed  serviceable  to  our  American  farmers. 

We  conclude  the  subject  of  rinderpest,  with  an  extract  from  a 
report  by  Mr.  X.  0.  Willard,  on  his  recent  return  from  an  agri- 
cultural town  in  England,  to  the  N.  Y.  Agricultural  Society,  and 
published  in  Transactions  for  the  year  1866: 

"The  southern  counties  of  England  through  which  I  passed, 
have  suffered  but  little  from  this  disease,  but  in  some  of  the 
northern  counties,  especially  Cheshire,  the  plague  has  been  most 
terrible  in  its  ravages.  The  immense  dairy  herds  of  Cheshire 
have  been  swept  away  almost  entire,  and  a  great  gloom  prevails 
among  the  people. 

"The  cheese  product  in  Cheshire,  Lancashire,  Shropshire,  and 
Derbyshire,  has  fallen  off  this  year  more  than  forty  millions  of 
pounds.  The  Cheshire  farmers  have  now  no  faith  in  medicine 
or  remedial  agents  for  rinderpest.  One  farmer,  who  had  lost 
eighty  head,  and  had  tried  various  remedies  advised  by  veterina- 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  503 

rians,  said  he  preferred  homeopathic  treatment,  but  the  cures,  like 
the  medicines,  were  infinitesimal. 

"Professor  Gamgee,  whom  I  met  in  London,  said,  'our  gov- 
ernment ought  at  once  to  take  the  proper  steps  for  crushing  out 
the  disease,  in  the  event  of  its  reaching  our  shores.  On  its  first 
appearance  in  a  herd,  every  animal  should  be  immediately  slaugh- 
tered, premises  purified,  and  every  precaution  taken  that  it  spread 
no  further.  We  must  not  dilly-dally  with  the  disease,  but  employ 
prompt  action  and  energetic  measures.  The  men  employed  to  do 
this  work  should  be  stern  and  inflexible  in  their  decisions,  and 
not  be  swayed  by  any  sympathy  for  losses  sustained  by  those 
owning  the  herds.  They  should  look  upon  it  as  a  terrible 
calamity,  threatening  the  nation,  which  must  be  walled  in  and 
crushed  at  all  hazards,  in  its  incipient  stages.  Take  warning, 
said  he,  by  England's  dilatory  action,  and  you,  in  America,  will 
be  spared  one  of  the  greatest  calamities  that  ever  befall  any 
country.'" 

We  trust  that  the  rinderpest  in  Western  Europe,  as  well  as 
in  its  brief  appearancu  a  few  years  since  on  our  own  side  of  the 
Atlantic,  has  passed  into  history,  not  again  to  disturb  our  fears 
with  its  anticipated  ravages. 

ABORTION,   OR  SLINKING. 

This  dangerous  disorder  has,  of  late,  become  rife  in  some  of 
our  important  dairy  districts,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  become 
alarming;  and  no  cause  has  yet  been  satisfactorily  accounted  for 
it.  It  has  been  seldom,  in  past  years,  that  cows  have  aborted 
throughout  the  country  generally.  In  our  own  cow  keeping  of 
many  years,  chiefly  in  the  best  common  way  of  farmers,  with  hun- 
dreds of  them,  we  have  never  had,  to  exceed,  in  all,  half  a  dozen 
cases. 

Abortion  has,  however,  within  a  few  years  past,  become  alarm- 
ingly prevalent  in  a  portion  of  the  dairy  districts  of  the  State  of 


504  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

New  York.  In  the  Transactions  of  the  New  York  State  Agri- 
cultural Society  for  the  year  1866,  it  is  stated  that  "the  farmers 
in  the  counties  of  Herkimer,  Oneida,  Lewis,  and  Otsego,  have 
been  for  some  years,  and  are  now  suffering  great  loss  and  dam 
age  from  the  abortion  of  their  cows.  The  abortions  occur  in 
almost  every  month  of  gestation ;  but  more  particularly  from 
the  sixth  to  the  ninth  month. 

"In  a  few  cases,  the  cows  die  in  consequence  of  abortion;  in 
others,  they,  remain  several  months  in  a  feeble  and  sickly  con- 
dition, during  which  they  cannot  be  fattened;  in  others,  they 
continue  to  give  milk,  but  the  flow  is  poor  in  quality,  and  small 
in  quantity.  In  some  cases,  and  those  appear  to  be  in  the 
majority,  from  the  reports  we  have  received,  the  farmer  loses  the 
use  of  the  cow  for  a  whole  year. 

"The  disease  began  to  manifest  itself  about  twelve  years  ago, 
and  has  been  gradually  increasing  ever  since.  It  was  greatly 
intensified  in  the  year  1865,  and  continued  to  increase  in  1866. 
In  the  year  1866,  from  the  best  information  we  can  obtain, 
twenty-five  per  cent,  of  the  cows  in  the  county  of  Herkimer 
aborted;  in  Oaeida,  twenty-five  per  cent.;  in  Otsego,  fifteen  per 
cent.;  in  Lewis,  twelve  per  cent.  In  the  other  dairy  districts,  the 
disease  exists,  but  we  are  unable  to  obtain  the  measure  of  loss. 

"The  farmers' clubs,  of  those  counties,  have  labored  zealously, 
and  have  expended  a  great  deal  of  money  to  ascertain  the  cause 
of  the  disorder,  but  hitherto  without  success. 

"On  high  lands  and  low  lauds,  on  old  pastures  and  on  new,  in 
high,  and  low  bred  stock,  in  cows  that  were  purchased,  and 
those  which  were  bred  on  the  farm,  in  those  that  were  high  fed, 
and  those  that  were  fed  sparingly,  in  those  that  were  kept  in 
underground  stables,  and  in  those  that  were  kept  above  ground, 
in  large  and  small  herds,  on  pastures  that  had  been  plastered, 
(with  gypsum,)  and  those  which  were  unplastered,  the  same 
liability  to  abortion  appears. 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  505 

"  The  following  are  the  only  circumstances  which  seem  to  be 
common  to  all  reports : 

"  In  all  cases,  the  meadows  and  pastures  containad  much  June 
grass  (poa-pratensis.)  In  nearly  all  cases  the  bulls  ran  with  the 
cows,*  and  in  most  of  them  they  drank  hard  water.  In  every 
case  the  appearance  of  the  calf  was  unnatural  and  unhealthy, 
and  the  iochial  discharges  were  unwholesome. 

"The  number  of  milk  cows  in  this  State,  (New  York,)  is 
1,123,000.  In  Herkimer,  there  are  41,566;  in  Oneida,  48,510; 
in  Lewis,  26,373;  in  Otsego,  36,847.  These  counties,  with  St. 
Lawrence,  Cattaraugus,  Ghautauqua,  Chenango,  Delaware,  Jef- 
ferson, and  Orange,  have  465,586  cows. 

"The  cows  of  the  State  produce  103,097,280  pounds  of  but- 
ter,  48,548,280  pounds  of  cheese,  and  about  21,000,000  gallons 
of  milk,  to  be  sold  in  cities  and  manufacturing  villages.  The 
value  of  these  dairy  products  could  not  have  been  less  than 
$48,000,000.  If  we  assume  the  loss  from  abortion  to  be  ten 
per  cent.,  the  money  value  of  the  loss  is  $4,800,000  annually." 

This  is  a  most  sorry  story  of  abortion ;  and  when  it  is  known, 
as  is  the  fact,  that  the  above  mentioned  counties  are  chiefly  high, 
rolling  land,  abounding  in  the  choicest  grasses,  and  pure  springs 
and  streams  of  water,  eminently  healthful  to  man  and  animals 
generally,  there  must  be  some  hidden  cause  for  this  calamity. 
And  yet  no  remedy  has  been  discovered  to  prevent  it. 

Much  has  been  written  on  the  subject,  within  the  last  two  or 
three  years,  in  our  agricultural  papers,  but  without  settling  the 
question  of  its  causes,  or  its  prevention.  Among  our  own  cows, 
we  do  not  recollect  a  single  instance  where  the  cow,  after  a  few 

*  When  will  people  learn  to  keep  their  bulls  up — confined,  away  from  their  cows, 
either  in  stables,  or  yards  ?  That,  of  itself,  may  be  one  great  cause  of  abortion,  the 
cows  being  continually  run  after  and  teazed  by  the  too  officious  brute.  In  previous 
pages  we  have  said  quite  enough  on  that  very  important  item  of  cattle  manage- 
ment As  June,  or  blue  grass,  prevails  almost  everywhere  in  the  pastures  and  cat- 
tle regions  of  North  America,  we  cannot  imagine  that  food  has  anything  to  do  with 
abortion.— L.  F.  A. 

22 


506  AMERICAN     CATTLE. 

weeks,  or  months,  did  not  return  to  regular  breeding,  without  a 
repetition  of  the  misfortune,  so  that  we  have  had  little  experi- 
mental knowledge  of  the  malady. 

Some  fifteen  years  ago,  a  gentleman  in  the  eastern  part  of 
this  State  had  a  valuable  herd  of  short-horns.  The  cows  had 
bred  successfully,  until  one  summer,  while  in  their  usual  pastures, 
a  large  majority  of  them,  one  after  another,  slipped  their  calves. 
The  fact  was  so  extraordinary  and  continuous  in  the  herd,  that 
their  owner  at  once  resolved  to  send  them  away  to  a  distance  for 
keeping.  They  were  driven  out  to  a  fine  grass  farm  about  a 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  distant.  Arriving  there,  no  farther  abor- 
tions took  place,  and  they  were  not  returned  to  their  old  home 
for  some  months,  until  the  pasturing  season  had  transpired. 
Meantime,  the  proprietor  of  the  herd  began  to  examine  into  the 
cause  of  this  strange  malady,  and  soon  recollected  that  he  had, 
early  in  the  spring,  some  time  before  the  abortions  commenced, 
spread  over  his  grounds  a  large  quantity  of  fur  clippings  and 
trimmings,  the  refuse  of  a  manufactory  where  caps,  and  other 
fur  clothing  were  extensively  made.  He  found  these  clippings 
of  skin  and  fur  in  various  stages  of  offensive  decomposition  in 
his  pastures,  and  the  cause  of  the  difficulty,  in  his  own  mind, 
was  readily  solved.  By  the  end  of  the  season  the  clippings  had 
become  entirely  decomposed,  and  absorbed,  or  amalgamated  into 
the  soil.  By  the  next  spring,  all  but  their  fertilizing  power  had 
disappeared,  and  no  further  ill  effects  were  produced.  It  is  hard- 
ly necessary  to  say  that  the  experiment  was  not  repeated,  and 
the  cows  were  thereafter  healthy,  and  free  from  further  abortions. 

This  subject  should  be  well  understood.  It  is  so  admirably 
and  fully  treated  in  Youatt,  that  in  the  absence  of  any  mention 
of  it  by  Mr.  Lowson,  from  whom  we  have  so  freely  quoted,  wa 
give,  at  length,  Mr.  Youatt's  remarks  on  the  disease,  if  disease 
it  may  be  called : 

"  The  cow  is  more  than  any  other  animal  subject  to  abortion. 
This  takes  place  at  different  periods  of  pregnancy,  from  half  of 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  507 

the  usual  time  to  the  seventh,  or  almost  the  eighth  month.  The 
symptoms  of  the  approach  of  abortion,  except  the  breeder  is  very 
much  among  his  stock,  are  not  often  perceived ;  or  if  perceived, 
they  are  concealed  by  the  cowherd,  lest  he  should  be  accused  of 
neglect  or  improper  treatment. 

"The  cow  is  somewhat  off  her  feed — rumination  ceases — she 
is  listless  and  dull — the  milk  diminishes  or  dries  up — the  motions 
of  the  foetus  become  more  feeble,  and  at  length  cease  altogether 
— there  is  a  slight  degree  of  enlargemeut  of  the  belly — there  is 
a  little  staggering  in  her  walk — when  she  is  down  she  lies  longer 
than  usual,  and  when  she  gets  up  she  stands  for  a  longer  time 
motionless.  As  the  abortion  approaches,  a  yellow  or  red 
glairy  fluid  runs  from  the  vagina  (this  is  a  symptom  which  rarely 
or  never  deceives) — her  breathing  becomes  laborious  and  slightly 
convulsive.  The  belly  has  for  several  days  lost  its  natural  rotun- 
dity, and  has  been  evidently  falling — she  begins  to  moan — the 
pulse  becomes  small,  wiry  and  intermittent.  At  length  labor 
comes  on,  and  is  often  attended  with  much  difficulty  and  danger. 

"If  the  abortion  has  been  caused  by  blows  or  violence,whether 
arising  from  the  brutality  of  the  cowherd,  or  the  animal  being 
teased  by  other  cows  in  season,  or  by  unskillfully  castrated  oxen, 
the  symptoms  are  more  intense.  The  animal  suddenly  ceases  to 
eat  and  to  ruminate — she  is  uneasy,  paws  the  ground,  rests  her 
head  on  the  manger  while  she  is  standing,  and  on  her  flank  when 
she  is  lying  down — hemorrhage  frequently  comes-  on  from  the 
uterus,  or  when  this  is  not  the  case,  the  mouth  of  the  uterus  is 
spasmodically  contracted.  The  throes  come  on,  they  are  dis- 
tressingly violent,  and  they  continue  until  the  womb  is  ruptured. 
Should  not  all  these  circumstances  be  observed,  yet  the  labor  is 
protracted  and  dangerous. 

"  Abortion  is  sometimes  singularly  frequent  in  particular  dis- 
tricts, or  on  particular  farms.  It  seems  to  assume  an  epizootic 
or  epidemic  form.  This  has  been  accounted  for  in  various  ways. 


508  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Some  have  imagined  it  to  be  contagious.  It  is  destructively 
propagated  among  the  cows,  but  this  is  probably  to  be  explained 
on  a  different  principle  than  that  of  contagion.  It  has  been 
stated  that  the  cow  is  an  animal  considerably  imaginative  and 
highly  irritable  during  the  period  of  pregnancy.  In  abortion, 
the  foetus  is  often  putrid  before  it  is  discharged ;  and  the  pla- 
centa, or  afterbirth,  rarely  or  never  immediately  follows  it,  but 
becomes  decomposed,  and,  as  it  drops  away  in  fragments,  emits 
a  peculiar  and  most  noisome  smell.  This  smell  seems  to  be  sin- 
gularly annoying  to  the  other  cows — they  sniff  at  it,  and  then 
run  bellowing  about.  Some  sympathetic  influence  is  produced 
on  their  uterine  organs,  and  in  a  few  days  a  greater  or  less  num- 
ber of  those  that  had  pastured  together  likewise  abort.  Hence 
arises  the  rapidity  with  which  the  fetus  is  usually  taken  away 
and  buried  deeply,  and  far  from  the  cows;  and  hence  the  more 
effectual  preventive  of  smearing  the  parts  of  the  cow  with  tar 
or  stinking  oils,  in  order  to  conceal  or  subdue  the  smell;  and 
hence,  too,  the  ineffectual  preventing  of  removing  her  to  a  far 
distant  pasture. 

"Chabert,  in  his  'Veterinary  Instructions,'  relates  a  singular 
case  of  this — a  kind  of  pest  or  plague  in  the  dairy  of  a  farmer 
at  Toury.  For^,hirty  years  his  cows  had  been  subject  to  abor- 
tion. His  cowhouse  was  large  and  airy;  his  cows  were  appar- 
ently in  good  health;  they  were  fed  like  others  in  the  village; 
they  drank  from  the  same  pond;  there  was  nothing  different  in 
the  pasture ;  his  servants  were  not  accustomed  to  ill-use  the  cat- 
tle, and  he  had  changed  these  servants  many  times  in  the  thirty 
years.  He  had  changed  his  bull  many  a  time ;  he  had  pulled 
down  his  cowhouse,  and  he  had  built  another  in  a  different  situa- 
tion, with  a  different  aspect,  and  on  a  different  plan;  he  had  even 
(agreeably  to  the  superstition  of  the  neighborhood,)  taken  away 
the  aborted  calf  through  the  window,  that  the  curse  of  future 
abortion  might  not  be  entailed  on  the  cow  that  passed  over  the 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  509 

same  threshold;  nay,  to  make  all  sure,  he  had  broken  through 
the  wall  at  the  end  of  the  cowhouse,  and  opened  a  new  door,  in 
order  that  there  might  not  be  the  possibility  that  an  elf-struck 
foatus  had  previously  gone  that  way ;  but  still  a  greater  or  less 
number  of  his  cows  every  year  slunk  their  calves. 

"Thirty  years  before,  he  had  bought  a  cow  at  a  fair,  and  she 
had  suffered  an  abortion,  and  others  had  speedily  followed  her 
example;  and  the  cow  that  had  once  slunk  her  calf  was  liable  to 
do  the  same  in  the  following  year,  and  so  the  destructive  habit 
had  been  perpetuated  among  his  beasts. 

"  Several  of  the  cows  had  died  in  the  act  of  abortion,  and  he 
had  replaced  them  by  others;  more  of  those  that  had  aborted 
once  or  twice,  or  oftener,  had  been  sold,  and  the  vacancies  filled 
up.  M.  Chabert  advised  him  to  make  a  thorough  change.  This 
had  never  occurred  to  the  farmer,  but  he* at  once  saw  the  pro- 
priety of  the  counsel.  He  sold  every  beast,  and  the  plague 
was  stayed.  This  sympathetic  influence  is  one  main  cause  of 
the  slinking  of  the  calves.  There  is  no  contagion,  but  the  result 
is  as  fatal  as  the  direst  contagion  could  have  made  it. 

"  Another  cause  of  abortion  is  the  extravagantly  high  condition 
in  which  cows  are  sometimes  kept.  They  are  in  a  continual  state 
of  excitement ;  and  from  the  slightest  cause,  inflammation  is  set 
up  in  the  uterus,  rendered  more  susceptible  by  the  state  of  preg- 
nancy, and  abortion  is  the  frequent  consequence  of  that  inflam- 
mation. 

"M.  Cruzel  has  given  an  instructive  account  of  abortion  thus 
produced.  He  was  consulted  by  a  farmer  who  had  ten  breed- 
ing cows,  that  occasionally  worked  at  the  plough ;  as  is  often  the 
case  in  France.  During  the  first  year  three  of  them  aborted. 
They  recovered,  and  were  soon  again  in  calf.  Two  of  them 
slunk  their  calves  a  second  time,  between  the  fifth  and  sixth 
months  of  pregnancy ;  the  third  went  her  full  time  and  produced 
a  weakly  calf,  that  died  on  the  second  day.  In  the  following 


510  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

year  a  fourth  aborted,  and  M.  Ouzel  was  sent  for.  He  was 
immediately  struck  with  the  unnecessary  high  condition  in  which 
all  the  cows  and  their  calves  were.  He  carefully  inquired,  but 
could  discover  no  other  probable  cause  for  these  repeated  acci- 
dents, and  he  at  once  attributed  them  to  the  state  of  plethora  in 
which  the  beasts  were  kept.  He  ordered  their  quantity  of  food 
to  be  materially  reduced;  he  bled  every  one  of  them ;  the  farmer 
took  care  that  nutriment  should  not  afterwards  be  so  danger- 
ously wasted  upon  them,  and  abortion  ceased  to  appear  on  the 
farm. 

"Mr.  Wedge,  in  his  'Survey  of  Cheshire,'  confirms  this.  He 
says  that  'slinking  happens  generally  in  wet  seasons,  or  when  the 
cattle  are  in  very  high  condition,  and  generally  continues  for  two 
or  three  years  together.  In  several  parts  of  North  "Wales, 
where  the  cattle  through  necessity  are  kept  in  lower  condition, 
instances  of  the  kind  very  rarely  happen.' 

"The  pastures  on  which  the  blood  or  inflammatory  fever  is 
most  prevalent,  are  those  on  which  the  cows  oftenest  slink  their 
calves.  Whatever  can  become  a  source  of  general  excitation 
and  fever,  is  likely,  during  pregnancy,  to  produce  inflammation 
of  the  womb:  or  whatever  would,  under  other  circumstances, 
excite  inflammation  of  almost  any  organ,  has  at  that  time  its 
injurious  effect  determined  to  this  particular  one. 

"There  are  some  curious  illustrations  of  this.  It  is  well 
known  that  cattle  of  all  kinds  are  sometimes  seriously  injured  by 
feeding  in  the  autumn  on  grass  thickly  covered  with  hoar-frost. 
Inflammation  of  the  bowels  of  a  dangerous  character,  and  some- 
times palsy  of  the  rumen,  have  been  thus  produced.  In  Switz- 
erland, the  commencement  of  the  hoar-frost  is  the  signal  for  the 
appearance  of  abortion.  It  is  occasionally  seen  at  other  times 
in  all  the  cantons,  but  now  its  victims  are  multiplied  tenfold. 
M.  Barruel,  V.  S.,  of  Chartres,  speaks  of  sixteen  cows  that 
aborted  at  different  periods  of  pregnancy,  from  this  cause,  and 
most  of  which  died. 


DISEASES    AND    REMEDIES.  511 

"Acrid  plants  are  often  prejudicial  to  cattle.  'There  is  no 
farmer  who  is  not  aware  of  the  injurious  effect  of  the  coarse, 
rank  herbage  of  low,  marshy,  and  woody  countries,  and  he 
regards  these  districts  as  the  chosen  residence  of  red- water;'  it 
may  be  added,  that  these  districts  are  also  the  chosen  residence 
of  abortion. 

"  Hard  and  mineral  waters  are  justly  considered  as  laying  the 
foundation  for  many  diseases  in  cattle,  and  for  this  among  the 
rest.  A  writer,  in  a  German  periodical,  gives  the  following 
account:  'In  1822,  twelve  of  his  in-calf  heifers  cast  their  calves, 
and  in  the  following  year  the  like  accident  happened  to  twelve 
others,  the  whole  of  which  used  to  drink  from  ponds,  the  water 
of  which  was  strongly  impregnated  with  iron.  In  1824,  ten 
cows  that  were  watered  at  other  places  all  calved  safely,  while  a 
single  cow  that  was  allowed  to  drink  of  the  ferruginous  water 
cast  her  calf.  The  same  occurred  in  two  following  years.' 

"Cows  that  have  been  long  afflicted  with  hoose,  and  that 
degenerating  into  consumption,  are  exceedingly  subject  to  abor- 
tion. They  are  continually  at  heat ;  they  rarely  become  preg- 
nant, or  if  they  do,  a  great  proportion  of  them  cast  their  calves. 
When  consumption  is  established,  and  the  cow  is  much  wasted 
away,  she  will  rarely  retain  her  calf  during  the  natural  period 
of  pregnancy. 

"An  in-calf  beast  will  scarcely  have  hoose  to  any  considera- 
ble extent  without  afterwards  aborting.  The  pressure  of  the 
distended  rumen  seems  to  injure  or  destroy  the  foetus.  Even 
where  the  distension  of  the  stomach  does  not  wear  a  serious 
character,  abortion  often  follows  the  sudden  change  from  poor  to 
luxuriant  food.  Cows  that  have  been  out  and  half  starved  in 
the  winter,  and  incautiously  turned  on  rich  pasture  in  the  spring, 
are  too  apt  to  cast  their  calves  from  the  undue  general  or  local 
excitation  that  is  set  up;  and,  as  has  been  already  remarked,  a 
sudden  change  from  rich  pasture  to  a  state  of  comparative  star- 


512  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

vation  will  produce  the  same  effect,  but  from  an  opposite  cause. 
Hence  it  is  that  when  this  disposition  to  abort  first  appears  in  a 
dairy,  it  is  usually  in  a  cow  that  has  been  lately  purchased. 
Fright,  from  whatever  cause,  may  produce  abortion.  There  are 
singular  cases  on  record  of  whole  herds  of  cows  slinking  their 
calves  after  being  terrified  by  an  unusually  violent  thunder- 
storm.* Commerce  with  the  bull,  soon  after  conception,  is  a 
frequent  cause  of  abortion.  The  casting  of  the  calf  has  already 
been  attributed  to  the  sympathetic  influence  of  the  effluvia  from 
the  decomposing  placenta:  there  are  plenty  of  instances  in  which 
other  putrid  smells  have  produced  the  same  effect,  and  therefore 
the  inmates  of  crowded  cowhouses  are  not  unfrequently  subject 
to  this  mishap. 

"The  consequences  of  premature  calving,  are  frequently  of  a 
very  serious  nature.  It  has  been  stated  that  there  is  often  con- 
siderable spasmodic  closure  of  the  mouth  of  the  uterus,  and  that 
the  calf  is  produced  with  much  difficulty  and  pain,  and  espe- 
cially if  a  few  days  have  elapsed  after  the  death  of  the  young 
one.  "When  this  is  the  case  the  mother  frequently  dies,  or  her 
recovery  is  much  slower  than  after  natural  parturition.  The 
coat  continues  rough  and  staring  for  a  long  time ;  the  skin  clings 
to  the  ribs;  the  appetite  does  not  return,  and  the  milk  is  dried  up. 
Some  internal  chronic  complaint  now  takes  its  rise,  and  the 
foundation  is  laid  for  consumption  and  death. 

"When  the  case  is  more  favorable,  the  results  are,  neverthe- 
less, often  annoying.  The  cow  very  soon  goes  again  to  heat, 
but  in  a  great  many  cases  she  fails  to  become  pregnant ;  she 
almost  certainly  does  so  if  she  is  put  to  the  bull  during  the  first 

*  "  Instructions  Veterinaries,  vol.  6,  p.  154.  Dr.  Rndge,  in  his  '  Survey  of  Glouces- 
tershire,' says,  that  there  was  an  enlosnre  near  Arlingham,  close  to  which  was  a 
dog-kennel.  Eight  heifers  and  cows  out  of  twenty  aborted,  in  consequence,  as  it 
was  supposed  by  the  farmer  of  the  frequent  exposure  of  flesh,  and  the  skinning  of 
dead  horses  before  them.  The  remainder  were  removed  to  a  distant  pasture  and 
did  well." 


DISEASES   AND    REMEDIES.  513 

heat  after  abortion.  The  heat  again  and  again  returns,  but  she 
does  not  stand  to  the  bulling;  and  so  the  season  is  wasted,  while 
she  becomes  a  perfect  nuisance  by  continually  worrying  the  other 
cattle. 

"If  she  should  come  in  calf  again  during  that  season,  it  is 
very  probable  that  about  the  same  period  of  utero-gestation,  or 
a  little  later,  she  will  again  abort ;  or  that  when  she  becomes  in 
calf  in  the  following  year,  the  same  fatality  will  attend  her. 
Some  say  that  this  disposition  to  cast  her  young  one,  gradually 
ceases;  that  if  she  does  miscarry,  it  is  at  a  later  and  still  later 
period  of  pregnancy ;  and  that,  in  about  three  or  four  years,  she 
may  be  depended  upon  as  a  tolerably  safe  breeder;  he,  however, 
would  be  exceedingly  inattentive  to  his  interest,  who  kept  a 
profitless  beast  so  long. 

"The  calf  very  rarely  lives,  and  in  the  majority  of  cases  it  is 
born  dead,  or  putrid.  If  there  should  appear  to  be  any  chance  of 
saving  it,  it  should  be  washed  with  warm  water,  carefully  dried, 
and  fed  frequently  with  small  quantities  of  new  milk,  mixed, 
according  to  the  apparent  weakness  of  the  animal,  either  with 
raw  eggs  or  good  gruel;  while  the  bowels  should,  if  occasion 
requires,  be  opened  by  means  of  small  doses  of  castor  oil.  If 
any  considerable  period  has  to  elapse  before  the  natural  term  of 
pregnancy  would  have  expired,  it  will  xisually  be  necessary  to 
bring  up  the  little  animal  entirely  by  the  hand. 

"The  treatment  of  abortion  will  differ  little  from  that  of  par- 
turition. If  the  farmer  has  once  been  tormented  by  this  pest  in 
his  dairy,  he  should  carefully  watch  the  approaching  symptoms 
of  casting  the  calf,  and  as  soon  as  he  perceives  them,  should 
remove  the  cow  from  pasture  to  a  comfortable  cowhouse  or  shed. 
If  the  discharge  is  glairy,  but  not  offensive,  he  may  hope  that 
the  calf  is  not  dead;  he  will  be  assured  of  this  by  the  motion  of 
the  foetus,  and  then  it  is  possible  that  the  abortion  may  yet  be 
avoided.  He  should  hasten  to  bleed  her,  and  that  copiously,  in 
22* 


514  AMERICAN   CATTLE. 

proportion  to  her  age,  size,  condition,  and  state  of  excitation  in 
which  he  may  find  her;  and  he  should  give  a  dose  of  physic 
immediately  after  bleeding.  The  physic  beginning  to  operate, 
he  should  administer  half  a  drachm  of  opium,  and  half  an  ounce 
of  sweet  spirits  of  nitre.  Unless  she  is  in  a  state  of  great  debility, 
he  should  avoid,  above  all  things,  the  comfortable  drink,  which 
some  persons  so  strangely  recommend ;  and  which  the  cow-leech 
will  be  almost  sure  to  administer.  He  should  allow  nothing  but 
gruel,  and  he  should  keep  his  patient  as  quiet  as  he  can.  By 
these  means,  he  may  occasionally  allay  the  general  or  local  irrita- 
tion that  precedes  or  causes  the  abortion,  and  the  cow  may  yet 
go  to  her  full  time. 

"Should,  however,  the  discharge  be  foetid,  the  natural  con- 
clusion will  be  that  the  foetus  is  dead,  and  must  be  got  rid  of, 
and  that  as  speedily  as  possible.  Bleeding  may  even  then  be 
requisite,  if  much  fever  exists;  or,  perchance,  the  aforesaid  com- 
fortable drink  may  not  be  out  of  place.  In  other  respects,  the 
animal  must  be  treated  as  if  her  usual  time  of  pregnancy  had 
been  accomplished. 

"  Much  may  be  done  in  the  way  of  preventing  the  formation 
of  this  habit  of  abortion  among  the  cows.  The  foetus  must  be 
got  rid  of  immediately.  It  should  be  buried  deep,  and  far  from 
the  cow  pasture.  Proper  means  should  be  taken  to  hasten  the 
expulsion  of  the  placenta.  A  dose  of  physic  should  be  given; 
the  ergot  of  rye  should  be  administered ;  the  hand  should  be 
introduced,  and  an  effort  made,  cautiously  and  gently,  to  detach 
the  placenta:  all  violence,  however,  should  be  carefully  avoided, 
for  considerable  and  fatal  hemorrhage  may  bo  speedily  produced. 
The  parts  of  the  cow  should  be  well  washed  with  a  solution  of 
the  chloride  of  lime,  and  this  should  be  injected  up  the  vagina, 
and  also  given  internally.  In  the  meantime,  and  especially  after 
the  expulsion  of  the  placenta,  the  cowhouse  should  be  well 
washed  with  the  same  solution,  in  the  manner  that  was  recom- 


DISEASES   AND   REMEDIES.  515 

mended  when  the  treatment  of  the  malignant  epidemic  was  under 
consideration. 

"The  cow,  when  beginning  to  recover,  should  be  fattened  and 
sold.  This  is  the  first,  and  the  grand  step  towards  the  preven- 
tion of  abortion,  and  he  is  unwise  who  does  not  immediately 
adopt  it.  All  other  means  are  comparatively  inefficient  and 
worthless.  It  was  the  charm,  by  means  of  which  Chabert 
arrested  the  plague,  which,  for  thirty  successive  years,  had  devas- 
tated the  farm  at  Toury.  Should  the  owner  be  reluctant  to  part 
with  her,  two  months  at  least  should  pass  before  she  is  permitted 
to  return  to  her  companions.  Prudence  would  probably  dictate 
that  she  should  never  return  to  them ;  but  be  kept,  if  possible, 
on  some  distant  part  of  the  farm. 

"Abortion  having  once  occurred  on  the  farm,  the  breeding 
cows  should  be  carefully  watched.  Although  well  fed,  they 
should  not  be  suffered  to  get  into  too  high  condition.  If  the  pest 
continues  to  reappear,  the  owner  should  most  carefully  examine 
how  far  any  of  the  causes  of  abortion  that  have  been  detected 
may  exist  on  his  farm,  and  exert  himself  in  carefully  removing 
them." 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

CASTRATION,  AND  SUNDRY  MATTERS  NOT  BEFORE    ENUMERATE. 

THIS  operation  should  always  be  done  before  the  calf  is  six 
months  old;  from  one  to  three  months  is  the  better  time,  as  it 
gives  less  pain,  and  is  sooner  healed.  When  done,  the  calf  should 
be  in  perfect  health,  and  growing  condition. 

The  process  is  so  well  understood,  by  cattle  breeders  generally, 
that  particular  directions  are  scarcely  necessary.  But,  it  is  often- 
times so  cruelly  and  bunglingly  performed,  as  to  cause  great  incon- 
venience and  suffering  to  the  animal;  therefore,  some  directions, 
as  to  the  best  mode,  are  necessary.  This  may  be  as  follows  : 

First,  grasp  the  scrotum  in  the  left  hand,  and  bring  the  testi- 
cles down  to  the  foot  of  the  bag;  then,  with  the  other  hand,  and 
a  sharp,  small  knife — a  sharp  pointed  jack-knife  is  as  good  as 
any — cut  a  perpendicular  slit  in  the  back  or  rear  side  of  each 
testicle,  close  to  the  bottom,  and  long  enough  for  the  released  tes- 
ticle to  pass  through;  then  cut  through  the  skin,  and  the  inner 
case  enclosing  it;  push  out  the  testicle,  and  gently  draw  the  cord 
attached  to  it  out,  one  or  two  inches,  and  cut,  or  scrape  it  off,  and 
the  work  is  done.  Serve  the  other  in  the  same  way.  Then  put 
in  a  little  salted  soft  grease,  and  push  it  upwards  towards  the 
belly  with  the  finger.  If  the  weather  be  hot,  a  few  drops  of 
spirits  of  turpentine,  mixed  with  water,  may  be  washed  just  with- 
in and  around  the  outside  cut  of  the  scrotum,  to  keep  off  the 
flies,  and  the  calf  may  be  set  at  liberty.  If  the  operation  be 
done  in  rainy,  or  cold  weather,  the  calf  should  be  housed,  if  pos- 
sible, for  a  few  days,  until  the  healing  process  is  well  under  way. 
If  the  scrotum  becomes  afterwards  inflamed,  and  swells,  and 


CASTRATION.  517 

matter  gathers  insidn,  the  calf  should  be  caught,  the  incision 
gently  opened  at  the  bottom  to  let  it  flow  out — even  pressed  out, 
if  it  refuses  to  flow  of  itself — which  it  will  almost  always  do,  if 
the  cut  be  made  large  enough,  which  is  the  object  of  it.  In  a 
few  days  the  cut  will  be  healed,  and  your  calf  be  capering  about 
the  lot,  yard,  or  stable,  as  if  nothing  had  happened  to  him.  All 
twisting,  turning,  or  cording  methods,  are  cruel  and  brutal,  and 
neither  so  good,  nor  safe  as  the  simple  cutting  we  have  described. 
The  castration  of  bulls,  after  arriving  at  virility,  either  younger 
or  older,  may  be  done  in  the  same  way;  but  the  castration  of 
bulls,  after  three  years  old,  is  sometimes  hazardous,  and  if  they 
are  to  be  fattened  for  slaughter,  the  better  way  is  to  feed  them 
as  bulls.  They  feed  quite  as  well,  and  the  beef  is  as  good  as  if 
they  were  made  into  stags.  Few  persons  can  tell  the  difference. 

SPAYING    CALVES,   HEIFERS,  OR    COWS. 

This  is  an  admirable  way  of  converting  them  into  ripe  and 
delicate  beef.  We  know  of  no  finer  beef  than  a  three  or  four 
year  old  spayed  heifer.  The  process  is  a  delicate  and  skillfnl 
one,  and  should  never  be  attempted  but  by  a  steady  hand.  There 
is  no  way  of  describing  it,  so  that  one  not  actually  seeing,  and 
practicing  it,  may  sufficiently  understand,  so  as  to  successfully 
perform  the  operation.  Therefore,  we  do  not  undertake  it. 

In  stock  growing  districts  there  are  usually  more  or  less 
experts  in  the  business,  and  only  they  should  be  employed  to  do 
it.  Where  a  surplus  of  heifers  exist,  and  beef  cattle  are  numer- 
ously reared,  the  practice  may  be  resorted  to,  as  both  necessary, 
and  profitable.  Spayed  heifers  feed  remarkably  well — generally 
better  than  steers,  and  when  good,  are  equally  sought  by  all 
butchers  who  want  to  furnish  choice  cuts  for  their  customers. 

FREE-MARTINS. 

Heifers,  twinned  with  a  bull,  are  usually  called  free-martins, 
and,  as  a  rule,  do  not  breed.  Som«  inatanceo  have  been  known 


518  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

of  their  doing  so,  but  it  is  against  general  experience.  Bulls, 
twinned  with  them,  almost  always  are  productive,  and  no  objec- 
tion n,eed  be  urged  against  them,  on  that  score. 

Heifers,  so  bred,  usually  grow  up  with  a  steer-like  look,  and 
we  have  known  them  broken  and  worked  with  the  steers  they 
were  twinned  with,  making  serviceable  work  animals,  though 
they  hardly  ever  grew  to  the  size  of  the  steer.  The  cause  of 
their  barrenness  is  found  in  the  want  of  development,  or  expan- 
sion in  their  maternal  organs.  They  seldom  ever  come  in  heat, 
or  desire  copulation.  We  have  had  many  instances  of  the  kind 
in  our  own  herds,  and  the  heifers  always  proved  barren.  Such 
heifers  had,  therefore,  better  be  treated  as  steers,  and  fed  for 
slaughter  at  the  proper  age. 

Youatt  details  some  processes  of  examination  into  the  breeding 
organs  of  free-martins,  but  only  to  show  the  utter  impossibility  of 
their  power  of  conception.  Twin  heifers  are  as  productive  as 
single  ones,  but  we  do  not  know  that  they  arc  more  likely  to 
produce  twin  calves  than  they.  Indeed,  one  good  calf  is  quite 
enough  for  a  cow  to  produce  at  a  time,  and  with  it,  the  breeder 
should  strive  to  be  content. 

DRINKING  WATER. 

We  have  often  spoken  of  pure  water  for  cattle.  As  a  rule, 
their  drinking  water  should  be  so.  Yet  there  are  certain  medici- 
nal, mineral,  or  impure  waters,  of  which  they  are  remarkably  fond, 
as  springs  slightly  saline,  sulphury,  or  tinctured  with  iron,  such 
being  the  most  common  of  the  mineral  water.  Sometimes,  cattle 
incline  to  partake  of  stagnant  and  filthy  waters,  and  will,  if 
opportunity  offers,  gorge  themselves  almost  to  bursting  with 
them,  even  to  the  neglect  of  the  purest  springs,  or  streams  to 
which  they  have  daily  access. 

Why  this  apparently  vitiated  taste  exists,  we  do  not  always 
know,  for  healthy  cattle  most  generally  indulge  it,  nor  do  we 


DRINKING  WATER.  519 

know  that  its  use  affects  them  adversely,  when  only  occasionally 
drank  by  them.  There  is  certainly  something  in  the  taste  of  the 
water  that  they  like,  but  we  would  not  indulge  them  in  its  use, 
to  any  extent — dairy  cows,  especially.  A  constant  use  of  it 
mu?t  affect  their  milk,  in  taste,  and  -quality.  It  may  act  upon 
them  medicinally  for  a  time  or  two,  but  its  constant  use  with  cat- 
tle, for  any  purpose,  we  think  disadvantageous  to  their  general 
health  and  welfare.  Therefore,  we  say  that  clean,  and  pure,  and 
running  water,  should  always  be  furnished  them,  if  possible. 

We  are  aware  that  there  are  wide  districts  of  country,  where 
natural  springs  and  streams  are  not  abundant,  and  water  must 
be  supplied  by  wells,  cisterns,  or  artificial  ponds;  and  even  in 
such  localities,  the  cattle  are  healthy,  if  they  only  get  enough 
of  it.  It  is  only  necessary,  in  such  instances,  that  the  water  be 
furnished  and  kept  in  as  pure  a  state  as  possible. 

BLOODY  MILK CURDLED  MILK. 

It  sometimes  occurs  that  a  cow  will  give  bloody,  and  again, 
curdled  milk  from  one  or  more  teats,  but  not  as  a  continuous 
habit.  Bloody  milk,  generally  comes  from  an  injury  to  the 
udder,  or  teat,  by  inflammation,  a  bruise,  or  wound,  and  some- 
times from  disorder  in  the  interior  part  of  the  udder.  The  curdly 
milk  shows  itself  in  small  lumps,  or  pellets,  or  stringy  issues 
when  milking,  while  the. milk  from  the  other  teats  will  be  per- 
fectly good.  Such  diseased  milk  should  never  enter  the  pail  but 
be  drawn  on  the  ground,  or  stable  floor. 

"When  either  of  these  difficulties  occur,  the  affected  teat  and 
udder  should  be  bathed  with  some  soft  emollient,  as  in  garget 
or  puerperal  fever;  an  ounce  or  two  of  saltpetre,  dissolved  in 
water,  may  be  given  as  a  dose.  When  the  curdled  pellets,  or 
stringy  flows  occur,  stopping  the  passage,  a  smooth,  blunt-pointed 
wire,  not  larger  than  a  wheat  straw,  may  be  gently  forced  through 
the  orifice  of  the  teat,  up  into  the  udder,  to  remove  the  impedi- 
ment, back  into  the  udder  where  it  may  be  dissolved. 


520  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

Such  difficulties,  however,  seldom  occur,  and  are  usually  over- 
come without  difficulty  in  a  few  days,  by  careful  usage.  Should 
the  udder  persist  in  yielding  such  disordered  milk  for  any  con- 
siderable length  of  time,  and  through  a  majority  of  the  teats,  it 
must  be  a  question  of  profit  with  the  dairyman  whether  to  dry 
her  off  for  the  shambles,  or  still  retain  her  in  the  dairy,  or  for 
breeding,  in  hopes  of  a  better  prospect  in  another  year. 

"HANDLING." 

This  is  a  technical  term  which  we  have  frequently  used  in 
treating  of  the  quality  of  cattle,  and  not,  perhaps,  sufficiently 
explained  at  the  time  of  first  using  it.  It  applies,  in  the  man- 
ner we  have  so  used  it,  simply  to  the  skin,  and  layer  of  flesh 
immediately  under  it,  as  denoting  the  condition  of  the  beast  for 
taking  on  flesh,  and  its  quality,  as  consumable  beef.  A  "  hard 
handler,"  is  one  with  a  tight,  close  skin,  with  little  or  no  yield- 
ing of  the  flesh  beneath.  A  "soft,"  or  "good  handler,"  denotes 
an  elastic  or  springy  touch,  both  skin  and  flesh  yielding  like  a 
small  hollow  India-rubber  ball,  to  the  pressure  of  the  fingers, 
and  the  skin  easy  of  movement  over  the  flesh — not  flabby,  as 
is  sometimes  the  case  with  a  very  thin-skinned,  and  sleazily 
made  up  animal. 

A  "hard  handler,"  denotes  a  bad  and  slow  feeder,  and  tough 
meat.  A  "soft"  or  "good  handler"  denotes  tender,  juicy  meat, 
and  a  quick,  profitable  feeder.  These  different  kinds  of  hand- 
ling, therefore,  are  a  pretty  certain  indication  of  the  value  of 
animals,  either  as  feeders,  or  in  the  quality  of  their  flesh.  The 
flabby  handlers,  although  perhaps  preferable  to  the  really  hard 
handlers,  are  not  desirable,  lacking  compactness  in  meat,  and 
"running  about,"  as  the  English  butchers  say,  on  the  block 
when  cutting  up. 

The  term  has  been  but  little  used,  or  even  understood,  in  this 
country,  until  within  the  last  twenty-five  or  thirty  years,  or  since 
the  "  improved  "  foreign  breeds  have  been  introduced  among  us. 


HANDLING.  521 

Years  ago,  we  have  attended  sundry  cattle  shows,  and  seen 
various  prizes  awarded  to  breeding  and  fatted  cattle,  without 
their  being  touched  by  the  viewing  committees,  they  being 
unconscious  of  the  great  difference  in  handling,  or  in  the  value 
of  that  quality,  and  judging  only  by  the  appearance  and  gen- 
eral "make-up"  of  the  animals;  while  a  thoroughly  educated 
English  grazier,  or  butcher,  would  go  blindfolded  into  the  rings, 
and  apply  his  hand,  rather  than  his  eyes,  if  he  were  confined  to 
either  one  sense,  or  the  other,  to  judge  of  their  quality. 

But  we  have  fast  learned  better.  Now,  we  are  happy  to 
say,  that  the  touch,  as  well  as  the  sight,  is  considered  important 
in  judging  of  the  true  quality  of  the  beast.  "Handling,"  there- 
fore, is  an  important  item,  and  good  handling  has  become  indis- 
pensable in  marking  the  best  quality ;  and  since  it  has  so  become, 
an  evident  improvement  in  that  particular  is  found  in  the  majority 
of  all  our  improved  breeds  of  cattle.  The  brisket,  neck-vein,1 
crops,  ribs,  back,  loin,  rump,  and  thighs,  are  the  important  points 
in  determining  the  quality  of  either  descriptions  of  handling. 

The  same  remarks  will  equally  apply  to  dairy,  and  breeding 
cows,  the  best  handlers  being  always  the  most  desirable  for 
both  purposes.  Our  own  experience  has  been  conclusive  on  this 
point,  with  animals  for  any  purposes,  and  we  would  prefer  good 
handlers,  with  some  strongly  defective  anatomical  points,  to  oth- 
ers "hard"  in  their  ''handling,"  yet  with  a  more  perfect  contour 
of  shape  and  appearance.  Good  handling,  therefore,  is  a  great 
point  of  excellence. 

"PROOF." 

This  is  another  technical  term  which  we  have  occasionally 
used  in  speaking  of  beef  cattle.  In  the  English,  or  foreign  sense, 
it  denotes  tallow,  well  "marbled"  flesh,  or  the  intermixture  of 
fat  with  the  lean  in  suitable  proportion  when  the  beef  is  exposed, 
after  slaughter.  There  is  much  difference  in  cattle  in  this  par 
ticular.  Good  handlers  almost  always  prove  well,  laying  on  theii 


522  AMERICAN    CATTLE. 

fat  in  good  places,  and  being  equally  distributed,  both  inside,  as 
well  as  next  to  the  skin. 

A  hard  handler  seldom  proves  well.  He  is  apt  to  be  "lumpy," 
or  "  patchy "  on  the  surface,  when  highly  fed,  putting  the  fat  in 
undesirable  places,  with  an  absence  of  it  in  the  parts  where  most 
wanted.  Thus  good  handling,  and  proof,  are  apt  to  go  together ; 
one  in  the  living  beast,  the  other  after  slaughter,  on  the  hooks, 
or  the  butcher's  block. 

LARGE,   OR    OVERGROWN    CATTLE. 

There  is  a  great  propensity  with  some  people  for  large  cattle. 
Whatever  the  breed,  great  size  they  count  a  great  excellence. 
This  is  altogether  a  mistake.  Extraordinary  size  is  apt  to  be 
accompanied  with  heavy  bone,  and  coarseness.  Coarse  cattle 
are  always  large  consumers,  and  generally,  slow  feeders.  They 
mature  tardily.  Their  quality  of  flesh  is  coarse,  and  the  beast, 
taken  altogether,  is  undesirable  both  to  the  feeder,  the  butcher, 
and  consumer. 

The  most  profitable  of  all  cattle  to  the  breeder,  and  grazier, 
are  those  of  medium  size,  compact  form,  low  on  the  leg,  and 
what  may  be  called — chunky  ;  yet  they  should  have  good  length. 
Still  they  should  have  good  size  for  the  breed;  as  much  size  as 
is  consistent  with  fineness,  which  means,  small  bone,  and  well 
fleshed. 

We  frequently  read  accounts  in  the  papers  of  enormously 
large  calves,  steers,  and  bullocks  —  oxen  which  weigh  3,000 
pounds,  live  weight,  and  upwards.  Whenever  we  hear  of  such, 
we  immediately  couple  them  with  coarseness.  It  cannot  be  oth- 
erwise, because  such  size  is  unnatural  to  the  ordinary  nature  of 
the  beast.  When  fully  fatted — and  they  hardly  ever  do  get 
thoroughly  fat  until  five  or  six  years  old — they  are  patchy,  or 
lumpy,  which  are  bad  in  beef  cattle.  Therefore,  we  say,  do  not 
aim  at  extraordinary  size  in  your  stock.  If  of  good  breed,  the 


OVERGROWN    CATTLE.  523 

feed  will  regulate  the  size,  and  abundant  food  will  give  size 
enough. 

We  have  seen,  it  is  true,  some  very  large  cattle  that  were 
really  fine ;  but  such  are  exceptions  to  the  common  rule,  and 
we  would  not  seek  for  them  as  bulls  for  stock  getters,  or  cows 
for  breeding,  at  corresponding  prices;  that  is  to  say,  extraordi- 
nary prices  for  extraordinary  size,  for  it  is  not  the  rule  that  such 
animals  will  produce  their  own  sizes  in  their  offspring,  or  beyond 
the  usual  growth  of  the  breed  to  which  they  belong.  They  are 
simply,  accidents. 

Nor  would  we  choose  undersized  animals.  A  fair  medium  is 
always  the  safest,  and  best,  in  all  stock  cattle.  Good  size,  fine- 
ness of  bone,  and  full  points,  all  over,  is  the  rule  which  we  would 
recommend  in  the  selection  of  all  neat  cattle,  according  to  their 
breed. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX. 


Abortion  or  slinking,  503 ;  in  the  dairies 
of  New  York,  504 ;  treatment  of  by 
Youatt,  506. 

Ages  of  cattle— Marks  indicating,  419. 

Alderney  cattle— Origin  and  history,  128 ; 
description,  128,129;  cow,  130;  intro- 
duction to  the  United  States,  131 ;  won- 
derful yield  of  milk  and  butter,  131 ; 
bull,  132 ;  feeding  in  Channel  Islands, 
132;  as  a  working  ox,  133;  as  a  beef 
animal,  133. 

Allen,  A.  B.— Cattle  in  the  London  Mark- 
ets, 286-288 ;  on  the  increase  of  Short- 
horns in  Great  Britain,  164, 165. 

Amalgamation  of  the  different  breeds  in 
America,  34-33. 

America  favorable  to  cattle  production, 
23. 

Anatomical  points  of  cattle,  41. 

Ayrshire  cattle,  111 ;  description,  112- 
117;  cow,  113;  bull,  115;  their  origin 
and  history,  116-118 ;  milk  production, 
118-120 ;  beef  qualities,  120 ;  manner  of 
rearing  calves,  122 ;  introduction  to  the 
United  States,  123;  review  of  their  his- 
tory, 123-125;  in  America,  125,  126;  as 
a  beef  animal,  126, 127 ;  cows,  Mr.  Bir- 
nie's,  359. 

Bakewell,  Rob't — Improver  of  the  Long- 
horns,  77-80. 

Barns  for  stock,  306. 

Barrenness  in  cows,  240-250. 

Beauty  in  cattle,  189, 190. 

Beef— Value  of  annual  consumption  in 
United  States  estimated,  15. 

Beef  cattle— Differences  in  breed,  276. 

Birnie,  William— Cooking  food,  357-359. 


Black  water,  451. 

Bladder— Inflammation  of,  447. 

Bloody  milk,  519. 

Bowels — Inflammation  of,  442. 

Brain— Inflammation  of,  448. 

Breachy  animals,  431. 

Breeding,  192 ;  in-and-in,  200 ;  grade  cat- 
tle for  grazing,  254 ;  dairy  cows,  255. 

Breeding  cows — Their  treatment,  219; 
strange  influences  on  them,  220;  re- 
markable effects  of  cross-breeding,  222. 

Breeds— Which  are  the  best,  181-186. 

British  cattle— Whence  derived  and  their 
improvement,  45^9. 

Bruises,  439. 

Bulls— Rearing  and  treatment,  2C2 ;  in- 
stances of  remarkable  usefulness,  264. 

Butter— Annual  production  and  value  in 
United  States,  16,  17. 

Cassarian  operation,  467. 

Calves— Stock,  their  rearing  and  treat- 
ment, 267-270 ;  for  veal,  270  ;  in  Lon- 
don market,  290. 

Calving,  462. 

Care  of  neat  stock  in  winter,  303. 

Castration,  516. 

Catarrh,  457. 

Cattle — In  London  markets,  286;  orna- 
ments of  parks,  412;  love  of  fine,  413; 
in  the  Western  States,  412 ;  in  the  Mid- 
dle and  Eastern  States,  413. 

Cattle  yards— Railway,  291. 

Chaps,  468. 

Cheese — Annual  production  and  value,17. 

Choking,  461. 

Cold,  457. 

Colic,  469. 


526 


ANALYTICAL    INDEX. 


Cooking  food,  336-359 ;  results,  351-356. 

Corn— Best  kind  for  soiling,  313. 

Cows— Fall  feeding,  330;  winter  feeding, 
330-332 ;  dairy  value,  408 ;  dairy  treat- 
ment, 415 ;  treatment  in  calving,  417- 
419,  402,  463-467  ;  sucking  themselves, 
433 ;  hooking  and  quarreling,  432. 

Cow-pox,  482. 

Crops  for  soiling,  313. 

Cross-breeding — Remarkable  effects  of, 
222. 

Cud— Loss  of,  480. 

Curdled  milk,  519. 

Cutting  fodder,  337 ;  what  is  gained  by 
it,  340. 

Dairy  lands,  409;  dairy  women,  410; 
dairy  factories,  410. 

Dairy  cows— Their  treatment,  415. 

Devon  cattle— Description  and  history, 
50 ;  English  breeders  of,  53 ;  as  a  dairy 
cow,  53-56 ;  as  a  working  ox,  56,  57 ;  as 
a  beef  animal,  58,  59 ;  in  the  United 
States,  60,  61 ;  in  the  London  market, 
288. 

Diseases— Treatment  and  cures,  427;  pre- 
venting, 428-430 ;  quack  doctors,  429; 
proper,  433 ;  water  treatment,  434 ;  gar- 
get, 436 ;  puerperal,  or  milk,  437,  472 ; 
wounds,  bruises,  sprains,  439 ;  Low- 
son's  treatise  on,  440 ;  inflammation  of 
bowels.  442 ;  inflammation  of  lungs.  443; 
inflammation  of  stomach,  444 ;  inflam- 
mation of  kidneys,  446 ;  inflammation 
of  liver,  447;  inflammation  of  bladder, 
447 ;  inflammation  of  womb,  449 ;  in- 
flammatory fever,  450 ;  red  water  and 
black  water,  451 ;  scouring  rot,  453- 
457 ;  catarrh,  or  cold,  457 ;  mange,  459 ; 
dysentery,  461 ;  the  fouls,  461 ;  cows 
previous  to  calving,  462 ;  Caesarian  op- 
eration, 467 ;  swelling  of  the  udder, 
467 ;  chaps,  or  sore  teats,  '168 ;  gripes, 
or  colic,  469 ;  choking,  471 ;  the  gad-fly, 
474;  lice,  476;  fog  sickness,  476,  loss 
of  the  cud,  480 ;  the  jaundice,  or  yel- 
lows, 480 ;  snores,  482 ;  cow-pox,  482 ; 
the  shoote,  483 ;  venomous  bites,  484 ; 
wounds,  484 :  strains  and  bruises,  487. 

Doctors— Quack,  429. 


Drinking  water,  518. 

Dutch  Cattle— See  Holsteins,  166. 

Drying  cow  of  her  milk,  487. 

Dysentery,  461. 

Economical  points  of  cattle,  41. 

Experiments  in  soiling,  315-326. 

Fat  ox— Shape  illustrated,  285. 

Feeding,  278;  stall,  280. 

Fences— Saving  in  pastures  by  soiling, 
319. 

Fever — Inflammatory,  450. 

Fog  sickness,  476. 

j  Food— The  grasses,  297-299;  cooking,  336; 
mixing  different  kinds,  338. 

Fouls,  461. 

Free-martins,  517. 

Gad-fly,  474. 

Galloway  cattle,  99;  their  history,  99, 
100;  description,  101;  bull,  102;  ox, 
103;  manner  of  rearing  in  Scotland, 
104-106;  cow,  107;  in  America,  108;  in 
the  London  market,  289. 

Gripes,  469. 

Guenon's  theory — Milk  marks  in  cows, 
391 ;  illustrated,  392 ;  Mr.  Magne's  ex- 
planation and  estimate,  393-397 ;  Mr. 
Haxton's  explanation  and  estimate, 
398 ;  disproved,  398,  399. 

Handling,  520,  521 ;  young  animals,  271- 
274. 

Heifers— When  to  be  bred  for  the  dairy, 
259 ;  rearing  thorough  bred,  272. 

Hereford  cattle — Description  and  history, 
62-74;  English  breeders  of,  64;  as  a 
dairy  cow,  66 ;  as  a  working  ox,  67 ;  as 
a  beef  animal,  68 ;  in  the  United  States 
and  Canadas,  70-73;  bull,  65;  cow,  66; 
in  the  London  market,  288. 
History  of  neat  cattle,  25 ;  in  the  Bible, 
in  India,  Egypt,  Europe,  25-28 ;  Ameri- 
can cattle,  29 ;  middle-horns — Devons, 
50-61 ;  Hereford  cattle,  62-74. 
Holstein,  or  Dutch  cattle— History,  166, 
167;  introduction  into  America,  168; 
Mr.  Chenery's  importation,  169;  de- 
scription, 170;  milking  qualities,  170, 
171 ;  bull,  170 ;  cow,  172 ;  as  a  beef  ani- 
mal, 172;  as  a  working  ox,  173. 
Hooking,  432. 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX. 


527 


Horns— Marks  iudi.  ating  age,  419. 

Illustrations — The  anatomical  and  eco- 
nomical points  of  cattle,  41;  Devon 
bull,  51 ;  Devon  cow,  54 ;  Devon  ox, 
58 ;  Hereford  bull,  05  ;  Hereford  cow, 
66 ;  Hereford  ox,  68 ;  Long-horned  bull, 
76 ;  Long-horned  cow,  81;  Long-horned 
ox,  82;  West  Highland  ox,  96;  West 
Highland  cow,  98 ;  Galloway  bull,  102 ; 
Galloway  ox,  103  ;  Galloway  cow,  107 ; 
Ayrshire  cow,  113 ;  Ayrshire  bull,  115 ; 
Alderney  cow,  130 ;  Alderney  bull,  132 ; 
old  style  Short-horn  cow,  145 ;  Short- 
horn bull  and  cow  of  milking  qualities, 
154;  Short-horn  bull  of  flesh  quality, 
156;  Short-horn  heifer,  157;  Short- 
horn fat  ox,  162;  Holstein  bull,  170; 
Holstein  cow,  172;  Texan  steers,  176; 
shape  of  fat  ox,  285 ;  milk  cow  with 
scutcheon,(Guenon's  theory)  392 ;  milk 
cow,  horned,  399;  milk  cow,  polled,  400; 
teeth  and  marks  of  age,  420,  421,  422, 
423,  424,  425. 

Improved  breeds  of  cattle,  45. 

In-and-in  breeding,  200 ;  Price,  the  Here- 
ford breeder,  207 ;  Robert  and  Charles 
Colling,  207 ;  Mr.  Bates,  208 ;  the  Booth 
brothers,  208 ;  Mr.  Humrickhouse,  210 ; 
Sir  John  Sebright,  212;  Mr.  Bake- 
well,  214 ;  Mr.  Jones,  216. 

Jaundice,  480. 

Kicking  cows,  430;  oxen,  431. 

Lice,  476. 

Liver— Inflammation  of,  447. 

Long-horned  cattle — History  and  descrip- 
tion, 75,  76 ;  bull,  76 ;  cow,  81 ;  ox,  82 ; 
as  a  beef  animal,  82;  introduction  to 
and  extinction  in  America,  83,  84. 

London  markets— Cattle  in,  286-288. 

Lower  Canada— Cattle  first  introduced 
into,  32. 

Lungs — Inflammation  of,  443. 

Malignant  epidemic,  491. 

Mange,  459. 

Marks  indicating  ages,  419. 

Massachusetts  Bay  Colony— When  cattle 
were  first  introduced  into,  30. 

Maternity— As  it  approaches,  416. 


Mexico— When  cattle  were  first  intro- 
duced into,  29. 

Middle-horned  cattle,  50. 

Milk— Value  annually  sold,  18 ;  produced 
and  consumed  in  households,  18 ;  dai- 
ries, 333 ;  value  sold  in  New  York,  333 ; 
value  sold  in  the  United  States,  333; 
swill  or  distillery,  334 ;  fever,  437,  472  ; 
drying  the  cow  of,  487. 

Milk  cows— Their  selection,  365-401;  gen- 
eral marks,  366-385;  shape,  369  386; 
general  appearance,  371-388 ;  hygienic 
condition,  372;  local  marks,  374 ;  selec- 
tion for  breeding,  382 ;  skin,  hair  and 
color,  388  ;  illustrated,  392,  399, 400 ;  the 
common  way  of  obtaining,  402-404 ; 
their  treatment,  415. 

Milking— How  done,  how  to  do,  404-407. 

Murrain,  488-491. 

Native  cattle— How  bred  and  mixed  from 
divers  breeds,  31. 

Nature— Her  laws,  195. 

Neatness  in  milking,  405,  406. 

New  Hampshire— When  cattle  were  first 
introduced  into,  30. 

New  York— When  cattle  were  first  intro- 
duced into,  30. 

Number  of  cattle  in  United  States,  11. 

Overgrown  cattle,  522. 

Pastures— Water  in,  300;  shade  in,  300, 
301 ;  change  of,  301-303. 

Pedigree— Necessity  of,  197. 

Perfection  of  form,  190-195. 

Pleuro-pneumonia,  491. 

Points  of  cattle— Good  and  bad,  41-44. 

Pregnancy— Feeding  in  advanced  stages 
of,  250-252;  duration  of,  252. 

Preparing  food  for  steaming,  347. 

Principles  of  breeding,  192. 

Profits  of  breeding  native  cattle,  39. 

Proof,  521,  522. 

Puerperal  fever,  437,  472. 

Putrid  fever,  488. 

Quack  doctors,  429,  440,  441. 

Quality  of  our  native  cattle,  34. 

Quebec— When  cattle  were  first  intro- 
duced there,  32. 

Railway  cattle  yards,  291. 


528 


ANALYTICAL  INDEX. 


Red  water,  451. 

Rinderpest,  491;  in  America,  492;  in 
England,  495 ;  law  in  New  York,  498 ; 
symptoms,  499;  treatment,  500;  pre- 
cautions, 501. 

Rot— Scouring,  453-457. 

Sale  milk  dairies,  333. 

Scotland— Its  cattle,  85,  86. 

Sex  of  calves — Influencing,  274,  275. 

Shape  of  fat  cattle,  284-286. 

Sheds  for  cattle,  306. 

Shelter  to  young  animals,  271. 

Shoote,  483. 

Short-horns,  134;  English  writers  on 
them,  134,  135  ;  Berry's  pretended  his- 
tory of  them,  135-140 ;  Youatt's  his- 
tory, 136-139;  true  history, '  140-145 ; 
the  "Durham  ox,"  144;  the  "White 
Heifer  that  travelled,"  144 ;  cow  of  the 
old  style,  145 ;  introduction  to  America, 
146-152;  herd  books,  153 ;  character- 
istics, 153-160  ;  bull  and  cow  of  milking 
tribes,  154;  as  flesh  producers,  155; 
bull,  156 ;  heifer,  157 ;  description  and 
.colors,  158-160;  as  a  dairy  cow,  160;  as 

*  storking  ox,  161 ;  as  a  beef  animal, 
161-103;  fat  ox,  162;  their  proper  homes, 
163;  their  increasing  popularity  and 
distribution,  164, 165 ;  in  the  London 


Size— Extremes  should  not  be  crossed, 
198. 

Snores,  482. 

Soiling  stock,  311-330 ;  condition  of  ani- 
mals, 317 ;  effect  of  on  milk,  318 ;  saving 
in  fences,  319 ;  saving  in  manure,  321 ; 
saving  in  land,  321 ;  crops,  322 ;  method 
of  feeding,  323,  324;  arrangement  of 
animals,  324. 

Sore  teats,  468. 

Spanish  cattle— See  Texans,  174. 

Spaying  heifers  and  cows,  517. 

Sprains,  439. 

Stall  feeding,  280-284. 

Steam  apparatus  for  cooking  food,  346 ; 
a  cheap  one,  348. 


Stewart,  E.  W.— On  soiling,  315-329  ;  on 
cooking  food,  336. 

Stock  calves — Their  rearing  and  treat- 
ment, 267-270 ;  running  with  the  cows, 
270. 

Stomach — Inflammation  of,  444. 

Strains  and  bruises,  487. 

Straw  cutters,  341. 

Summer  food  for  dairy  cows,  309-313. 

Swill,  or  distillery  milk,  334-357. 

Teats— Sore,  468. 

Teeth— Indications  of  age.  420-427. 

Texan  cattle — Descended  from  the  Span- 
ish cattle,  174 ;  description,  175-178 ; 
mode  of  rearing  them,  175 ;  portrait 
of  a  group,  176;  comparative  value, 
177;  diseases  of  them,  179. 

Transportation  of  stock  to  market, 
291. 

Tricks  of  cattle,  430. 

Udder— Swelling  of,  467. 

Value  of  cattle  in  the  United  States,  13, 
14 ;  different  kinds  of  cattle  food  com- 
pared, 344-346. 

Veal— Estimated  annual  consumption 
and  value,  15. 

Venomous  bites,  484. 

Virginia — When  cattle  were  first  intro- 
duced into,  30. 

Water— Treatment  of  diseases,434;  drink- 
ing, 519. 

West  Highland  cattle— Their  history,  87- 
39;  their  management,  94, 95;  as  a  beef 
animal,  95,  96 ;  ox,  %  ;  proposed  intro- 
duction to  America,  97 ;  cow,  98 ;  in  the 
London  market,  289. 

What  constitutes  a  good  animal,  187^189; 
a  bad  animal,  187, 188. 

Winter  forage,  303 ;  winter  feeding,  305- 
806. 

Womb— Inflammation  of,  449. 

Working  oxen,  293;  rearing,  matching 
and  training,  294-296. 

Wounds,  439,  484. 

Yellows,  480. 


R.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO.'S  BUSINESS  NOTICE. 


WE  wish  to  call  the  attention  of  Breeders  of  Fine  Cattle, 
and  all  kinds  of  Improved  Live  Stock,  to  our  last  publication  on 
Agricultural  Implements,  Farm  Machinery,  and  Small  Tools  for 
the  Farm  and  Garden.  It  constitutes  the  Fifteenth  Edition  of  our 
regular  Business  Catalogue,  which  we  have  issued  for  many  years, 
but  is  now  so  much  increased  in  size,  as  well  as  perfected  in  its 
descriptions,  and  in  the  quality  of  the  engravings,  that  it  ranks  far 
in  advance  of  other  similar  publications  in  this  country,  as  well  as 
abroad.  Although  it  does  not  attempt  a  scientific  description  of 
machines  and  tools,  as  was  the  case  with  the  valuable  "  Farm  Imple- 
ments," of  Mr.  J.  J.  Thomas,  of  the  Country  Gentleman,  (now 
unfortunately  out  of  print,)  yet  it  is  so  full  in  its  details  that  it  is 
book  which  every  Farmer  or  Stock  Kaiser  should  possess,  as  they  *wn 
find  it  valuable  for  frequent  consultation.  The  edition  referred  tow 
a  book  of  nearly  300  pages,  containing  about  six  hundred  wood 
cuts,  nearly  all  of  which  are  new  and  by  first  class  artists,  and  is  fur- 
nished at  $1  in  paper  covers,  or  $1.25  in  cloth. 

The  first  few  pages  are  devoted  to  a  brief  description  and  analysis 
of  the  best  Fertilizers,  and  after  thirty  pages  of  description  of 
Cast  Iron,  Wrought  Iron,  and  Steel  Plows,  Cultivators,  Harrows, 
Hollers,  &c.,  &c.,  there  is  given  a  full  list  of  all  Implements  and 
Machines  used  in  the  harvesting  of  the  Hav,  Grain  and  Root  Crops, 
with  those  used  for  their  preparation  for  market,  or  for  home  use. 
Among  the  latter,  we  include  Portable  Steam  Engines,  Wind  Mills 
and  all  kinds  of  Horse  Powers  for  driving  Threshers  and  Cleaners, 
Grain  and  Feed  Mills,  Corn  and  Cob  Crushers,  Smut  Machines, 
Fanning  Mills,  Corn  Shellers,  Hay,  Straw  and  Stalk  Cutters,  &c.,&c.; 
all  of  these,  however,  being  made  of  suitable  size  to  be  worked  by 
hand  as  well  as  power. 

For  the   further  preparation  of  food  for   Ca  tie,  we  have  several 
patterns  of  Root  Cutters   and   Slicers,  of  various   sizes,  up  to  thoao 
23 


capable  of  cutting  three  hundred  bushels  per  hour,  together  with 
Vegetable  Boilers  and  Steamers  for  cooking  roots,  &c.,  to  be  heated 
by  coal  or  wood. 

We  devote  considerable  space,  also,  to  articles  for  Dairy  use,  such 
as  Churns,  Butter  Workers,  Dog  or  Sheep  Powers ;  to  Iron  Feeding 
Hacks,  Mangers  and  Troughs ;  Farm  Wagons  and  Carts ;  Liquid 
Manure  Carts,  Pumps,  Fire  Engines,  Forks,  Bows,  and  many  other 
articles  of  general  utility  in  and  around  Farm  Buildings. 

In  smaller  articles  for  a  Stock  Barn,  we  have  Cattle  Ties,  Bull 
Leaders  and  Bull  Kings,  Cattle  Syringes  and  Probangs,  Ox  Balls  and 
Muzzles,  Cattle  Cards,  &c.,  in  a  great  variety  of  styles  and  prices. 

For  Sheep  Kaisers,  we  have  Shears,  both  Domestic  and  Imported, 
and  are  about  introducing  a  new  Sheep  Shearing  Machine,  in  which 
the  inventor  hopes  to  meet  the  wants  of  this  and  other  countries. 

Although  we  have  enumerated  only  a  few  of  the  goods  noticed  in 
our  Catalogue  list,  we  think  enough  have  been  specified  to  show 
the  value,  to  the  general  Agricultural  community,  of  the  book  thus 
described,  and  especially  to  Stock  Farmers,  and  our  opinion,  partial 
as  it  may  be,  has  been  confirmed  by  the  whole  Agricultural  Press  of 
the  United  States. 

Copies,  bound  in  paper  covers,  will  be  mailed  to  all  applicants,  on 
receipt  of  one  dollar,  or,  in  cloth  binding,  one  dollar  and  a  quarter. 

Applications  should  in  all  cases  be  addressed  to  us  as  below. 

R.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO., 
P.  0.  Sox  376.  189  and  191  Water  Street,  New  York. 


ERTILIZERS. — K.  H.  ALLEN  &  Co.  keep  constantly  on  hand 
the  following  popular  Fertilizers,  which  they  fully  guarantee  to  be  of 
the  best  quality,  viz.:  PHOSPHATE  OF  LIME,  GROUND  BONE,  FLOUR 
OF  BONE,  No.  1  PERUVIAN  GUANO,  PHCENIX  and  other  PACIFIC 
GUANO,  AMMONIATED  PACIFIC  GUANO,  FISH  GUANO,  &c.,  &c. 


general  assortment  of  BOOKS,  for  the  Farmer,  Gardener, 
Florist,  Fruit  Grower,  &c.,  sent  by  mail  on  receipt  of  the  retail 
price. 


PATENT  CYLINDER  PLOW, 

WITH   SKIM,  OK  SUBSOIL  ATTACHMENT. 

Plow  derives  its  name  from  the  form  of  the  mold-board, 
which  is  a  segment  of  a  perfect  cylinder,  with  its  ends  cut  in  the  style 
of  ordinary  mold-boards.  Its  lines  are  thus  always  horizontal  to 
the  surface  of  the  land,  and  consequently  it  turns  the  furrow-slice 
with  the  same  uniformity  as  a  wheel  on  its  axle,  and  with  the  least 
possible  friction.  The  friction  is  still  further  reduced  by  the  peculiar 
arrangement  of  the  share  and  land  side,  which,  combined  with  its 
other  improvements,  reduces  the  draught  from  one-fourth  to  one-third 
less  than  that  required  by  the  best  class  of  Plows  now  in  general  use. 

For  lightness  of  draught,  simplicity  of  construction,  ease  of  hold- 
ing, and  certainty  of  turning  all  soils  of  any  required  depth  and 
width,  it  far  surpasses  any  other  Plow. 

All  the  sizes  are  capable  of  turning  either  flat  or  lap  furrows,  of 
any  required  lap,  by  using  shares  suited  to  various  widths,  all  of 
which  can  be  supplied ;  and  every  furrow  may  be  left  concave  on  the 
under,  and  convex  on  the  upper  side,  which  gives  the  lightest  and 
most  friable  condition  to  the  soil,  admitting  of  easy  and  thorough 
pulverization  by  a  light  harrow  or  cultivator. 

This  front  plow  can  be  raised  or  lowered  to  turn  any  required  depth 
of  upper  furrow,  or  it  can  be  removed  entirely,  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
operator. 

We  have  137  distinct  sizes  and  varieties  of  Plows  on  our  Price 
List,  and  most  of  the  larger  ones  are  arranged  with  fin  or  wrought 
cutters,  wheels  and  draft  rods,  as  may  be  desired.  They  are  cast  iron, 
polished  and  half  polished,  steel,  wrought  iron,  &c.,  embracing  every- 
thing required  for  sward  and  fallow  plowing,  cultivating,  deep 
trenching,  subsoiling,  &c. 

fi^T"  Send  for  Price  List  for  particulars. 


P.  O  Box  376. 


K.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO., 
189  and  191  Water  Street,  New  York. 


ONE  HORSE,  OR  PONY  CLIPPER  MOWER. 

A  GOLD  MEDAL,  (the  highest  premium,]  was  awarded  to  this 
machine,  by  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  Society,  at  their  great 
trial  in  Auburn,  in  July,  1866,  when  59  Mowers  and  Keapers  were 
offered  for  competition. 

This  is  the  only  really  practical  One-Horse  Mower  in  the  market. 
It  is  constructed  on  the  same  general  principle  as  the  Two-Horso 
Machine,  and  is  easily  drawn  and  worked  by  one  horse.  It  is  capable 
of  cutting  three-quarters  of  an  acre  per  hour  with  ease,  without 
distress  to  the  team,  even  in  the  hottest  weather. 

The  CLIPPER  Mowers  were  introduced  by  us  in  1863.  Although  they 
at  once  took  the  first  place  among  this  class  of  machines,  they  have  since 
been  modified  from  year  to  year,  as  each  successive  season's  experience 


TWO  HORSE  CLIPPER  MOWER 

in  the  field  showed  any  point  susceptible  of  improvement,  and  they 
now  rank  among  harvesting  machines  as  our  modern  light  steel  Tools, 
Plows,  etc.,  do  in  comparison  with  the  old  fashioned  and  heavy  imple- 
ments of  the  past  generation. 

They  are  built  on  the  system  of  interchangeable  parts,  a  system  that 
has  not  in  full,  been  heretofore  applied  to  the  construction  of  any  Mower. 
The  like  parts  are  exact  duplicates  of  each  other,  and  will  fit  any  and 
all  machines  of  the  same  size.  By  this  method,  we  are  able  to  secure 
exact  uniformity  in  all  our  machines,  and  all  will  work  equally  well  in 
the  field,  whether  put  together  at  our  manufactory  or  by  our  Sub- 
builders. 

While  the  CLIPPERS  possess  every  point  of  real  excellence  found  in 
other  machines,  they  have  many  important  features  peculiar  to  them- 
selves, viz.: 

*23 


The  DRIVE  WHEELS  have  ten  wrought  iron  spokes,  (each  bracing 
the  adjoining  ones,)  thus  rendering  them  lighter,  at  the  same  time 
much  stronger,  than  the  ordinary  cast  iron  wheels.  Though  they  are 
independent  of  each  other,  either  will  drive.  Both  are  in  gear  while 
advancing,  and  out  of  gear  while  backing.  The  inside  wheel  runs  in 
the  track  of  the  shoe,  and  does  not  press  down  the  cut  grass. 

The  FRAME  is  made  entirely  of  cast  and  wrought  iron,  not  in  one 
piece,  as  in  some  machines,  but  in  parts,  so  arranged  that  in  case  any 
one  is  injured,  that  only  requires  to  be  replaced,  which  any  farmer  is 
competent  to  do.  A  frame  of  this  material  is  almost  indestructible, 
while  it  cannot  be  warped  by  exposure  to  the  weather  in  any  climate, 
as  is  the  case  with  the  wooden  frames. 

The  DRAFT  ATTACHMENT  is  another  peculiar  and  important  feature 
of  the  CLIPPER  machines.  Being  applied  to  the  front  end  of  the 
frame  and  below  the  pole, (that  serving  merely  as  a  guide  for  the  team,) 
the  draft  is  consequently  upward,  whereby  the  inside  shoe  is  made  to 
pass  lightly  over  the  ground,  rendering  unnecessary  the  leading  wheel 
in  front  of  the  shoe,  with  its  attendant  evils. 

The  method  of  adjusting  the  CUTTING  APPARATUS  of  the  CLIPPER 
is  at  once  novel  and  peculiar.  By  means  of  the  adjusting  lever  the 
driver  is  enabled  at  all  times,  when  the  machine  is  in  motion,  to  raise 
or  lower  the  points  of  the  fingers  and  knives,  thus  varying  the  angle 
and  height  of  the  cut,  and  adapting  it  to  lodged  grass,  or  rough,  boggy 
ground. 

The  patent  cast  steel  FINGER  BAR,  and  solid  cast^steel  GUARDS,  are 
not  liable  to  clog  or  break,  with  the  under  surface  of  the  finger-slot 
hardened;  and  in  connection  with  the  ball  and  socket  knife-head  they 
make  the  most  perfect  Cutting  Apparatus  known.  They  are  as  much 
in  advance  of  the  common  flat  bar  and  malleable  iron  guard,  as  the 
latter  are  in  advance  of  the  old  wooden  bars  and  cast  iron  guards ; 
and  to  this  most  important  of  all  requisites  to  a  perfect  Mower  we 
invite  your  particular  attention. 

The  Mowers  are  made  with  30,  32,  or  36  inch  Drive  Wheels,  with 
five  different  cuts,  varying  from  3J  for  the  Pony  to  5  feet  for  the 
Two-Horse. 

The  Keapers  are  made  to  cut  4£  and  5  feet,  with  36  inch  Drive 
Wheels. 

8©°"  For  further  particulars,  send  for  a  Circular  to 

K.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO., 
P.  0.  Box  376.  189  and  191  Water  Street,  New  York. 


HAND  LAWN  MOWER. 

THIS  machine  has  become  indispensable  to  all  owners  of  Lawns, 
who  value  a  fine,  close  and  evenly  cut  turf,  which  is  impossible  to  be 
secured  by  the  use  of  Lawn  Scythes,  even  in  the  most  experienced 
hands. 

When  properly  used,  it  leaves  the  grass  not  only  evenly  cut,  but 
the  heavy  roller  compacts  the  sod  and  the  soil  below,  with  manifest 
advantage  to  the  appearance  of  the  Lawn,  as  well  as  its  permanent 
improvement. 

There  are  two  sizes  of  Hand,  and  four  of  the  Horse  Machines,  cut- 
ting from  16  to  42  inches,  according  to  size.  Full  description  and 
prices  will  be  given,  on  application  to 

K.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO., 
P.  0.  Box  376.  189  and  191  Water  Street,  New  York. 


HORTICULTURAL  TOOLS  AND  HARDWARE. 


The  above  cut  represents  our  Horticultural  Tool  Chest.  In  our 
new  Catalogue,  a  large  space  is  devoted  exclusively  to  the  above  tools, 
fully  illustrated  with  cuts  of  the  several  articles. 

The  list  comprises  numerous  varieties  of  Hoes  for  garden  walks ; 
Knives  for  trimming  edges  of  paths ;  Grass  Hooks  for  cutting  grass 
where  the  Lawn  Mower  or  Scythe  cannot  be  used  ;  Garden  and  Lawn 
Rakes  of  Wood,  Iron,  Steel ;  Garden  Barrows,  with  high  sides,  and 
with  one,  two  and  three  wheels ;  Syringes  of  Tin,  Britannia  and  Brass  ; 
Cephydrions,  Greenhouse  and  Garden  Engines  for  sprinkling ;  Water- 
ing Pots  and  Hose ;  Fruit  Ladders  and  Gatherers ;  Fruit  Knives ; 
Budding  and  Grafting  Knives ;  Shears  and  Scissors,  of  all  kinds,  for 
pruning  and  trimming ;  Weeding  Forks  and  Transplanting  Trowels  ;.- 
Pruning  Saws  and  Chisels ;  Tree  Scrapers ;  Garden  Reels  and  Lines  ; 
Flower  Poles  for  tying  up  Petunias,  Roses,  Carnations,  Dahlias,  &c., 
&c.;  and  in  fact  almost  every  tool,  small  or  large,  that  can  be  of  ser- 
vice to  the  Gardener,  Florist,  Nurseryman  or  Fruit  Grower. 

The  tools  mentioned  above,  are  furnished  singly,  or  in  chests  of 
various  sizes  and  styles,  at  the  option  of  the  purchaser. 

Price  of  the  Catalogue,  $1. 

R.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO., 


P.  0.  Box  376. 


189  and  191  Water  Street,  New  York. 


FERTILIZERS. 


R.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO.,  keep  constantly  on  hand,  the  following  popular  Fertilizers, 
each  of  which,  they  guarantee  to  be  pure,  and  the  best  of  their  kind : 

E.  F.  COB'S  Super-Phosphate  of  Lime.— This  is  composed  wholly  of  bones, 
either  raw,  or  such  as  have  been  charred  and  used  by  the  sugar  refiners.  They  are 
thoroughly  decomposed  by  the  addition  of  Sulphuric  Acid,  which  is  itself  a  fertilizer, 
and  when  the  charred  bone  is  used,  the  ammonia-forming  material  of  the  bone,  (the 
animal  tissues,)  which  had  been  expelled  by  heat,  is  fully  made  up  by  adding  ammo- 
nia. It  is  applied  to  crops  in  drills,  or  by  sowing  broadcast,  and  harrowing  lightly 
in.  There  will  be  no  injury  to  seeds  or  plants,  if  placed  in  contact  with  them. 

Ground  Hone. — This  is  one  of  the  most  economical  manures,  and  like  the  Super- 
phosphate, is  applicable  to  all  soils,  and  to  all  the  muscle  and  bone-forming  plants, 
grains,  roots,  &c.  It  may  be  sown  broadcast,  or  in  drills. 

Flour  of  Done,  is  pure  bone,  reduced  to  fine  powder,  and  is  applied  to  all  crops, 
as  above. 

Number  One  Peruvian  Guano,  (and  we  keep  no  other  quality,)  is  the  most 
concentrated,  and  hitherto,  has  been  considered  the  most  desirable  of  the  commer- 
cial manures.  Its  principal  value  is  in  its  ammonia,  of  which  it  contains  8  to  16  per 
cent.  It  also  contains  about  25  per  cent,  of  phosphate  of  lime  and  magnesia,  which, 
however,  may  be  much  more  economically  provided  by  either  of  the  foregoing  fer- 
tilizers. Other  manures,  containing  the  mineral  constituents  of  plants,  such  as 
potash,  soda,  the  phosphates  of  lime,  magnesia,  &c.,  (which  are  always  found  abun- 
dantly in  all  forms  of  bone  manures,  and  in  ashes,  barn  yard  manures,  &c.,)  must  be 
added  with  Peruvian  Guano,  or  the  crops  will  soon  exhaust  the  soil  of  these  neces- 
sary ingredients,  in  consequence  of  the  excessively  stimulating  effects  of  the  ammo- 
nia, which  the  Peruvian  Guano  holds  in  so  large  a  proportion.  It  is  furnished  in  bags 
of  about  160  Ibs.  each. 

Phosnix  Guano  is  one  of  the  best  of  the  Phosphatic  Guanos  from  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  which  are  generally  or  commercially,  known  as  AMERICAN  GUANO.  The 
origin  of  this  guano  is  identical  with  the  Peruvian,  being  the  deposits  from  the 
innumerable  flocks  of  sea-birds,  which  have  resorted  for  ages  to  those  islands  of  the 
Pacific,  where  these  deposits  exist.  But  in  all  these  islands,  the  abundant  rains 
(which  never  occur  on  the  Chincha  Islands  where  the  Peruvian  is  found,)  have 
washed  out  the  more  volatile  and  readily  soluble  ammonia,  leaving  over  50  per  cent,  of 
bone,  phosphate  of  lime,  and  other  fertilizing  salts.  In  consequence  of  the  absence  of 
ammonia,  its  effects  on  crops,  though  more  enduring,  are  not  so  immediate,  as  from 
the  application  of  the  Peruvian  guano. 

Ammoniated  Pacific  Guano.— This  is  a  manufactured  article,  the  basis  of 
which  is  the  Phosphatic  Guanos  from  the  Pacific  Ocean,  with  the  addition  of  ammo- 
nia producing  ingredients,  such  as  animal  matters,  and  particularly  the  residium  of 
fish,  after  expelling  the  oil.  The  slow  decay  of  this  animal  matter  in  the  soil,  forms 
ammonia,  the  beneficial  effects  of  which,  add  materially  to  its  value  as  a  fertilizer. 

Fish  Guano,  is  composed  exclusively  of  the  remains  of  fish,  (which  are  caught 
in  great  abundance  on  our  Atlantic  coast,)  after  expelling  the  oil,  and  thoroughly 
drying  and  grinding. 

All  of  the  above,  except  Peruvian  Guano,  are  shipped  in  barrels  of  200  to  275  Ibs. 
each. 


SEEDS  FOR  CATTLE  BREEDERS  AND  STOCK  RAISERS. 


In  connection  with  our  business  in  Agricultural  Implements,  we 
have  constantly  on  hand  a  full  assortment  of  Seed  and  Seed  Grains, 
of  all  kinds,  raised  for  us  by  the  most  reliable  Seed  Growers  of  the 
United  States,  or  imported  from  the  best  dealers  of  England,  Belgium 
and  France. 

Our  assortment  includes  all  that  are  raised  for  the  feeding  of  Live 
Stock,  and  it  is  to  this  branch  of  our  Seed  business  that  we  particu- 
larly call  the  attention  of  Breeders  of  Cattle  and  all  kinds  of  Stock. 

In  Field  Seeds,  we  offer  the  Clovers,  Grains  and  Grasses,  of  all 
varieties,  for  pasture,  for  soiling,  and  for  the  regular  Hay  Crop,  together 
with  all  the  new  Fodder  Plants,  the  use  of  which  is  rapidly  increasing 
in  this  country,  and  among  which  are  choice  prolific  varieties  of  Sweet 
Corn,  the  Italian  and  Hungarian  Millet,  Sorgo  or  Chinese  Sugar 
Cane,  in  its  several  varieties,  Vetches,  Peas,  Rape,  &c. 

In  the  list  of  Roots,  we  offer  all  the  old  standard  varieties  for  "Win- 
ter feeding,  as  well  as  others  recently  introduced  and  found  valuable 
in  this  country.  Among  them  are  the  Long  White  Sugar  Parsnip ; 
the  White  Sugar  Beet ;  Long  Red  and  Yellow  Globe  Mangel  Wurzel ; 
the  Long  Orange,  and  the  Large  Orange  and  White  Belgian  Carrots  ; 
and  in  Turnips,  we  have  five  varieties  of  value,  viz.:  the  Early  White 
and  Red  Top  Flat,  Long  Smooth  White  or  Cow  Horn,  Large  White 
French  or  Rock,  and  the  Purple  Top  Yellow  Swede  or  Ruta-Baga. 

Orders  for  any  quantity  under  four  pounds,  can  be  safely  executed  by 
mail,  the  General  Post  Office  Department  having  given  particular 
facilities  for  this  purpose.  The  rates  of  postage  to  all  parts  of  the 
United  States,  not  including  the  Territories,  is  two  cents  for  every 
four  ounces  or  fraction  thereof. 

Detailed  catalogues  of  our  entire  stock,  with  price  lists,  will  be  fur- 
nished upon  application  on  receipt  of  stamp. 

J8^°Our  large  Illustrated  Catalogue,  (15th  edition,)  containing 
nearly  300  pages,  and  about  600  wood  cuts  of  Agricultural  Imple- 
ments and  Machinery,  and  Small  Tools,  will  be  sent  post-paid  on 
receipt  of  $1. 

R.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO, 
P.  0.  Box  376,  New  York  City. 


DOMESTIC    ANIMALS. 


K.  H.  ALLEN  &  CO.  will  fill  orders  for  such  Domestic  Animals 
of  the  hest  and  most  popular  heeeds,  as  are  to  he  found  among  our 
hest  breeders.  These  include 

Cattle— SHORT-HORN,  DEVON,  ALDERNEY  and  AYRSHIRE. 

Sheep — BAKEWELL  or  LEICESTER,  COTSWOLD  and  LINCOLNSHIRE 
of  the  Long  Wools  ;  SOUTH  and  HAMPSHIRE  DOWNS,  of  the  Middle 
"Wools ;  and  the  SILESIAN,  and  native  bred  MERINOS,  of  the  Fine 
Wools. 

Swine— BERKSHIRE,  of  the  black  and  white ;  ESSEX,  of  the  pure 
black ;  CHESHIRE  and  CHESTER  COUNTY,  of  the  large  white ;  and 
SUFFOLK,  of  the  small  white. 

Also  the  Long-Eared  KABBITS  ;  choice  varieties  of  FOWLS,  &c.,  &c. 

In  ordering  any  of  the  above,  particular  description  should  be 
given,  not  only  of  the  breed,  but  whether  very  choice  animals  are 
required,  as  the  prices  vary  very  widely  in  pure  animals  of  the  same 
breed,  according  to  the  selection. 

All  orders  executed  by  us  for  any  of  the  foregoing  Animals,  will  be 
fully  guaranteed  as  to  purity  of  breed,  and  good  condition  of  the 
animals  when  shipped. 


beautifully  executed  CATALOGUE  of  our  Implements,  of 
about  300  pages,  and  nearly  600  cuts,  full  of  important  information 
for  the  Farmer,  and  a  valuable  addition  to  his  library,  will  be  sent, 
post-paid,  on  receipt  of  $1. 


RICE  LISTS  of  our  Implements,  will  be  sent  gratis  through 
the  mail  on  receipt  of  postage  stamps. 

$®~  A  full  CATALOGUE  OF  SEEDS  to  DEALERS,  also  a  KETAIL  CAT- 
ALOGUE of  Seeds,  will  be  sent  gratis,  on  receipt  of  stamps.  Parties 
ordering  as  Dealers,  should  always  state  the  nature  and  place  of  their 
business. 


information,  prices,  circulars,  &c.,  will  be  sent  of  all 
articles  in  our  large  Catalogue,  on  application.  Address  all  letters  to 
P.  O.  Box  376,  New  York. 


TO  THE  FARMERS  OF  AMERICA 

And  all  Whom  it  may  Concern : 


THE  EMPIRE  WIND  MILL  MANUFACTURING  CO. 

OF    SYRACUSE,    N.  Y. 

Solicit  your  careful  attention  to  their  SELF-REGULATING, 
STORM-DEFYING  WIND  MILL,  as  a  LABOR  SAVING 
POWEE  for  farm  purposes,  particularly  for  Pumping  Water. 

All  allow  this  to  be  one  of  the  most  tedious  performances  connected 
with  farm  labor,  and  hundreds  of  farmers  might  and  would  keep 


more  stock,  could  they  be  watered  by  a  living  spring  at  the  surface 
of  the  ground. 

This  can  now  be  brought  about,  for  long  and  patient  effort  has 
overcome  the  most  serious  objections  to  Wind  Mills,  as  heretofore 
constructed,  and  this  most  economical  power  in  the  world  is  made 
available;  so  we  are  fully  prepared  to  sell,  erect  and  warrant  our 
machines,  and  adapt  them  to  all  possible  situations,  so  as  to  give 
entire  and  lasting  satisfaction. 

Send  for  circulars,  containing  further  information  and  testimonials, 
and  after  that,  if  37ou  still  doubt,  write  us : 
I.  The  depth  of  your  well. 
II.  The  least  depth  of  water  ever  known  in  it. 

III.  The  height  above  the  platform  of  the  well  to  where  you  wish 
the  water  discharged. 

IV.  The  lateral  or  side  distance,  if  any. 

V.  The  amount  or  quantity  of  water  wanted,  or  at  least  the  num- 
ber of  cattle  to  be  supplied. 

VI.  The  height  at  which  the  Mill  must  be  erected  to  secure  a  free 
current  of  air,  with  all  other  particulars — and  see  if  we  will  not  give 
you  a  fair  chance  to  TEST  the  Mill  on  your  own  premises  till  you 
become  satisfied  we  have  told  you  the  truth. 

Price  of  Mills  at  the  Factory  : 

No.  0.        No.  1.        No.  2.       No.  3.       No.  5.       No.  6. 
$75.00        100.00       150.00        300.00       700.00       1200.00 
Boxing,      2.50  3.00          3.50  5.00         12.00          25.00 

Pumps  from  $5.00  upwards.  Pipe,  &c.,  at  manufacturers'  list 
prices.  WE  CAN  GIVE  votr  WHAT  YOU  NEED. 

Address, 

EMPIRE  WIND  MILL  MFG.  CO. 

SYRACUSE,  N.  Y. 


NOTE. — I  have  seen  several  of  the  above  named  Wind  Mills  at 
work,  and  many  testimonials  highly  recommending  them,  from  Rail- 
way managers,  using  them  at  their  water  stations,  as  well  as  from 
farmers,  manufacturers,  and  others.  I  have  full  confidence  in  recom- 
mending them  to  all  stock  breeders  and  farmers  needing  such 
machines,  as  an  economical  and  highly  valuable  labor-saving  appa- 
ratus. L.  F.  ALLEN. 
24 


In  press  and  will  soon  be  published: 
The  American  Farm  Book. 

Treating  of  Soils,  Manures,  Crops  and  their  cultivation, 
Orchard  and  Garden  Fruits,  Farm  Stock  generally,  &c. 

Originally  by  RICHARD  L.  ALLEN.  Revised,  ex- 
tended and  brought  down  to  the  present  period,  by 
LEWIS  F.  ALLEN. 


Rural  Architecture  and  Farm  Buildings. 

Revised  and  extended,  in  all  the  various  departments 
of  Farm  and  Village  occupation,  with  numerous  Illus- 
trations of  Dwelling  Houses  and  .their  appendages,  and 
Farm  Buildings  generally,  with  remarks  on  Grounds, 
Plantations  of  Trees,  Shrubbery,  and  other  natural  dec- 
orations, &c.  By  LEWIS  F.  ALLEN. 


These  books  will  be  of  the  same  style,  and  of  about 
the  same  number  of  pages  as  "AMERICAN  CATTLE," 
and  for  sale  by  canvassers. 


"Z, 


I  0 


THE  LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 

Santa  Barbara 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW. 


